


Five

by merdragon



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars: Rise of Empire Era - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Fix-It, Force-Sensitive Leia Organa, Friendship, Gen, General Organa - Freeform, Girl Power, Leia's Squad, Love, M/M, Multi, Suitless Vader, obikin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-06-03 05:30:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 31,468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6598681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/merdragon/pseuds/merdragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke is five years old when a tall stranger comes to the homestead.  He towers over Luke, a scarf wrapped around the bottom of his face so that only his brilliant blue eyes can be seen.  Luke is not afraid.  He pulls down the scarf and asks Luke if he wants to come with him and see the stars, and somehow, somehow Luke just knows that this is his father. ART BY UNTAINTEDTEA (on tumblr and twitter) [last chapter is on hiatus until episode IX comes out]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Five

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first time ever writing SW ff. Please judge me harshly, since I in no way know all the details of this universe (galaxy?) as well as I know, say, HP. I wrote this (chapter 1) between 12 and 4 am, so let me know of any grammatical/factual mistakes. Enjoy! I plan to do a chapter for the twins' ages 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, and 21, if not further.

Luke is five years old when his best friend, Biggs, dies in a Skyhopper crash. The neighbours, if they can be called that with the nearest other farms twenty clicks away, call it a waste, a young child sneaking onto craft too advanced for his small hands. But to Luke, Biggs was one third of his world, and so he mourns.

Leia is five years old when she feels a wave of anguish pass through her, stronger than anything she’s ever felt. She looks up from her lessons on the traditional Noobian-Alderaanian alliance, her eyes spilling over with tears for reasons that she cannot understand and runs, runs to her father’s office and into his lap, sobbing and sobbing as she struggles to understand the pain that she feels.

Across the galaxy, in his new Star Destroyer, Darth Vader is in his hyperbaric chamber when the hurt and pain lash across his soul. His back snaps straight, screaming in pain but he does not care; he’s felt a spark of something that brings back memories, _connections_ that Anakin— _no!_ —he’s _gone!_ —once felt as he pressed his cheek against the growing belly of his wife. Vader’s tear ducts have long since melted away with the rest of his original face, but the urge to sob almost overwhelms him, something that has not happened in over five years. And he knows, he _knows_ that his master has lied. His child, his son, is alive and in pain.

Luke is five years old and does not know that his pain will change the face of the galaxy forever.

Luke is still five years old, three weeks later, when news comes to the Outer Rim that the emperor is dead. Darth Vader is dead along with him, in the same freak explosion that destroyed the _Perilous_. On Tatooine, to a boy who still keenly feels the loss of his friend, this means nothing, other than his aunt and uncle holding each other and laughing giddily. They do give him a Zucca fruit pastry from their trip to Mos Eisley and it almost makes him feel better about Biggs, knowing that his friend can enjoy all the pastries he wants, wherever he is now.

Leia is five years old when her father receives a comm and sits down abruptly. The future politician knows from his face that life as she knows it has forever changed, and her usually stoic father grins at her, gathering her into a tight embrace.

The utter destruction of the _Perilous_ means that no one notices the small Starfighter escape with a pilot in black and their single passenger in white, crammed into the tiny storage space. The pilot appears expert in their ability to manoeuver the craft beyond the edge of the galaxy into the sister-galaxy of the Rishi Maze, to a planet that neither pilot nor passenger has visited in over five years. In the silence of the trip, the trooper can almost hear his commander thinking; the haze of terror that normally clings to the black form seems to dissipate by the hour until they land on a platform in Tapoca City. The clone trooper, the last brother that had been part of Vader’s Fist, the only one to truly _know_ who Vader is, is handed off to the Kaminoans by Vader himself. He is given no warning of what is to come, but still reverberates in shock at the freedom of his thoughts a few days later, once he has recovered from the invasive cerebral surgery. He spends a month visiting his young brothers, those who had been commissioned too late in the war to understand the horror of it. He urges them to fight for their rights, the rights to be considered as citizens, citizens without damn biomechanical chips in their brains. He manages it too, convincing the Kaminoans that the clones will be of greater value to the Empire (Republic) with the potential for a normal lifespan. The brother fights and fights and finally receives a suppressant for the genome modification that ages him at twice the normal speed. He ensures that he has a case with enough serum for over a thousand clones. Though he does not know it yet, Vader will later threaten the Kaminoans into creating enough of it for every living brother.

Luke is five years old when Obi-Wan Kenobi leaves Tatooine to aid the rebels in reclaiming the Republic.

It takes one month for Vader to fully heal. The legs and arm are surprisingly easy (though he decides to keep his previously mechanized right arm as is), but growing the delicate tendons, bones, and musculature of his left hand and feet take time and patience. His face is even worse, as it needs to be almost entirely reconstructed from stem cell-grown tissue and cartilage. His eyes, melted by the heat of Mustafar, cannot be replaced with organic structures, but the cybernetic replacements are upgraded to the highest standard. They are identical in colour to his previous set, but, with a directed thought, they can switch to a golden yellow, just on the edge of Sith. (Some part of him, both Anakin and Vader, smirks at the potential that the control over this trait has.) The skin grafts are the last to come, including follicles extensively placed across his crown, because, _kriff_ , he just wants to be normal again. Anonymity has been paid for with the emptied coffers of Vader. Cody finds him in his quarters one day, mechanical parts scattered around him in small piles, while others float around him, guided by the Force. A cybernetic arm is among those floating, much more precise and intricate than anything that he would have associated with Vader.

“Sir.”

Luke is five years old when his aunt goes missing. It has been a full day since she was last seen in Anchorhead and Uncle Owen is out of his mind with worry. He tells Luke to _stay here_ with the food and the droids and not to answer the door for anyone. He says that he will be back by nightfall. By the time a full rotation has passed, Luke knows that his uncle is wherever his aunt is. He does not worry. Something tells him that they are safe, simply held up somewhere. He does as all inhabitants of the harsh desert planet do. He survives.

Luke is five years old when a tall stranger comes to the homestead. He towers over Luke, a scarf wrapped around the bottom of his face so that only his brilliant blue eyes can be seen. Luke is not afraid. The man’s companion is shorter and somehow even less scary than the not-scary stranger, despite the wicked scar curling around his brow. He pulls down the scarf and asks Luke if he wants to come with him and see the stars, and somehow, somehow Luke just knows that this is his father that Uncle Owen never talks about, the father that he has always been told is dead. As he gathers his favourite stuffed Hutt baby and his clothing, compassionate Luke has a thought for his aunt and uncle; when he mentions this to his father, the giant blinks in surprise but says he’ll leave a note. Luke cannot read yet, and so does not know what it says, but clambers onto the speeder bike with eagerness, the moisture farm already long gone in his thoughts as he squeezes safely between the two grown-ups. Before they leave, the hulking man pays a visit to the grave of Luke’s grandmother, Shmi, who he realizes must be this man’s mother.

_“He is safe. Do not worry.”_

They enter the spaceport at Mos Eisley, but there is a sandstorm, and Luke can barely see through the fabric wrapped across his face for protection. The light freighter in front of them is sanctuary though, and Luke’s father seems to have bought it. He is strapped in, and watches in glee as his father enters the cockpit, sends him a shy, warm smile, and then lifts off into space.

Luke is only five, but he knows that he is _never_ getting on solid ground again if he can help it.

One week later, Owen and Beru are released from the prison, Vader’s money having run out and their captor bored. They return home to find a door wide open and a homestead full of sand. A note seems to be glued into place on Luke’s empty bed. They rush back to Anchorhead and send an urgent comm to Ben Kenobi.

Leia is five years old when her father informs her that a good princess knows how to defend herself and so will have a new teacher. She adores him. Master Kenobi rarely smiles at anyone, but is warm and encouraging with her. He teaches her how to meditate and pay attention to the world around her and she thinks that it’s _dumb_ , until she uses her newfound skills of listening to discover secrets. She discovers that Master Kenobi’s name is Obi-Wan, but goes by Ben when he leaves the palace. She learns that there is a family of squatters living in the stables. She learns that Master Kenobi is worried about a boy named Luke. She finds that her mother had sold her favourite jewellery to fund the rebellion, the rebellion that is cautiously a part of the peace talks scattered across the galaxy. And while she has always known that her parents sleep in different rooms, she discovers that her meditation teacher does not sleep in his own nearly half as often as he passes the night in her father’s. Mother does not seem to mind, telling Leia that she’ll understand the complexities of marriage one day. And so she focuses on using the Force to quiet her emotions and improve her Sabacc face for her eventual career in the senate.

Luke is five years old when he is completely surrounded by space for the first time and it inspires awe in him. He knows that this is where he belongs, especially with his father, who watches him with the same wonder. Luke still does not know what his name is. He supposes it must be Skywalker too, but he just calls him Dad, as Commander calls him Sir. Dad seems to have an endless supply of credits in bank accounts across the galaxy; he sets these up as Luke watches. He seems wary of touching Luke at first, but when Luke slips his hand into his father’s left, Dad takes a shaky breath and starts crying. Luke has never seen a grown-up cry, but does what his Aunt Beru does to make him feel better. He hugs Dad and rubs his back with his tiny hands as Dad chokes out a teary laugh. When he is scooped up onto his dad’s lap and then into a tight embrace, he revels in the fact that this is his _dad_. He doesn’t quite understand why the Commander is nervous around Dad, but sits with him to try and pull stories out of him.

Luke spends the rest of being five in a haze of joy. Dad teaches him about the Force and meditation. Luke thinks that Dad should meditate too, as he tells him one day about two months later. Luke can feel his dad’s sudden bursts of anger through their bond, and wants Dad to feel happy all the time, not angry.

Anakin does not yet know if he deserves all of this. His skin has the ability to _feel_ and his brain is slowly but surely being unclouded from the poison of his dead master’s dark influence. Cody, loyal Cody, is always at his side, protecting his son. Luke is the greatest marvel of all. Anakin does not yet know if he deserves to be Anakin again, but he _knows_ that he does not deserve Luke and that one day, he’ll wake up and still be under Palpatine’s control. But days, weeks, and then months pass, and Luke is still with him, gazing up at him in idolatry. And so Anakin makes sure that his son knows the way of the Force. In addition to meditation, Luke learns his katas; Anakin goes through the motions with him, though neither have lightsabers. Anakin’s new body needs to strengthen its muscles regardless (and he refuses to acknowledge the Sith-red sabers locked in a box in storage).

Most importantly of all, he tells Luke of his mother. He tells her of her kindness, her smile, her selflessness. Luke has her heart and her peacekeeper mentality and Anakin knows he must protect his precious son from the terrors of the galaxy, terrors like him. He knows that there are beings in the universe searching for Luke, but Anakin is so adept in the Force that they never find him. The trio hop from planet to planet, system to system, showing Luke the wonders of the galaxy.

Luke is five years old and Anakin is twenty-seven years old, but they are each other’s best friends, fierce in their love and protection for each other. Cody just watches and smiles.


	2. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which this is still G-rated

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So what the fuck, I spent all my time on public transit the past two days writing this on my iPhone 6. I send it to myself and paste it into word and what the fuck, it's over two and a half thousands words long and in heavy need of formatting. So here you go; this was written in the Apple Notes app.

Luke is six years old the first time his dad lets him take control of the freighter. Cody is alarmed, as usual, but tries not to show it as Anakin leads them to empty space, with no systems or highways or clouds to hamper his progress. Luke, of course, is a natural, never having told his dad how he used to sneak out and take the Lars speeder bike on mini-explorations in the middle of the night.

And Anakin is _proud_ , so proud at the way Luke seems to instinctively know just how the freighter (they've named her _Darklight_ , as per Luke's suggestion) will swoop and turn at the merest touch of the controls. The ship really isn't a piece of garbage, despite what Cody says through gritted teeth, but the Skywalkers can often be seen flat on their backs or dangling from the ceiling during yet another customization or repair. Soon, she's the fastest ship in the galaxy, according to the both of them, but only Anakin is aware of all of the hard work he's put in to make _Darklight_ indestructible.

Leia is six years old and Obi-Wan is forty-four when she begins proper weapons training. Her master pushes her to take up the light saber, but she pushes back twice as hard. She's a _princess_ , not a Jedi, and so she will learn to defend herself with blasters. She does concede to weekly saber lessons, just in case something happens and there is no other weapon available. But she is vocal about her hatred for it and Obi-Wan asks Qui-Gon for patience in teaching this headstrong offspring of Anakin. Leia does not know that the saber she uses was her father's.

He has not seen Ahsoka in around seven years, and so now that the emperor is dead and she reveals that she was their agent, Fulcrum, all along, Obi-Wan wraps her in a tight hug, their first ever. She's discovered that the clones had been implanted with biomechanical chips and has spent all of her resources since Order 66 to seek out clones and help them surgically gain agency again. She tells him that the chips were made to break down after a few years and masses of the clones cannot confront the horrors they were faced to exact on the Jedi and kill themselves in shame. The emperor had dismissed the clones from military service once "peace" had been proclaimed, and they are floundering in a galaxy that has no need for them. Kix and Jesse are with her and when General Kenobi asks about the remnants of the 501st and 212th, it is evident that these two clones, at least, know of the true fate of Anakin Skywalker.

Luke is six years old and he also knows about Anakin and the mess of Darth Vader. When Anakin tells him, he sits in silence, soaking in the story of how his father Fell. He learns about his grandmother and the circumstances surrounding her death. He learns of Ahsoka and how her leaving tore Anakin apart even though he knows she did what was best for her. He learns of his parents' friendship with the Chancellor and how Anakin trusted him to have his best interests at heart. He learns of Order 66 and betrayal, so much betrayal and death. Dad never shies away from his role, never once steps away from how it was his fault, and so Luke wraps his tiny arms as best as he can around his father and holds him as the large man sobs.

"But you came back, Dad, and that's what counts!"

Neither Luke nor Anakin nor Cody know if it will make much of a difference to Obi-Wan, his best friend and the master that he left. It takes time, but Anakin tells Luke every story that he can think of in which the legendary Skywalker and Kenobi (and Tano, of course) restore order to the galaxy. He leaves in their mistakes, so that Luke can learn from them. (He thinks he's doing this parenting thing okay.) Despite Obi-Wan being responsible for putting him in the Vader suit, though, he always paints his master in the most positive light. _Force_ , but he misses the man. After Luke, Obi-Wan is the most important person alive to Anakin.

Luke is six years old when his father decides that his son should know how to read.

Leia is six years old and she has already been reading for two full years. She soaks up politics and rhetoric and history and languages and diplomacy. Obi-Wan and Bail are also sure to tell her the truth about her birth parents. They see no harm in it, and so tell her of her twin brother, her twin brother who has been missing for over a year. Somehow, Leia is less surprised by this than her parentage. Pragmatic already, she acknowledges this and then turns her focus back to being Leia Organa, Princess of Alderaan. She appreciates her master's lessons in the Force, but has more important things to do.

Luke sees the Force as the most important power in the galaxy (besides Dad). He practices his meditation and katas and using the Force to move his boots and their bacta pads and Cody's pistols. Anakin isn't too happy to find Luke dismantling the last item on that list with the Force. Cody finds the similarities between father and son staggering, especially the way they integrate the Force into their tinkering.

Cody wonders if he'll ever see any of his brothers again. He knows that since 66, they've been disappearing in droves, by either the Empire's orders or at the hands of the public or themselves. No one likes the clones anymore, least of all themselves. They make that their mission, because while Luke is happy to meditate and fly and be with his dad, both Cody and Anakin feel antsy with no goal, no mission. When time passes slowly, besides, Anakin can feel the darkness pressing in. Still, it's nothing that some time with Luke can't solve.

Luke is six years old and he thinks that between the harshness of Tatooine and his father's stories, he's tough. He's six and can handle anything.

He can't.

The empathetic child struggles with every clone they find. Some have post-traumatic stress disorder and can barely remember their names or numbers. Others keep repeating, "Good soldiers follow orders." This continues long after their chips have been removed. Cody leads these missions while Anakin keeps his face half-covered and acts as a silent bodyguard. The majority of the clones' chips have broken down, but every so often, they find one who is still Sith-bent on killing Jedi. Either way, every single clone agrees to be accompanied to a medical facility to have the chip or its remains removed.  Luke is instrumental in convincing them that the _Darklight_ ’s crew means no harm, and soon there are clones scattered through the galaxy with an undying loyalty towards the little boy who brings hope and light into their lives for a little while.

Leia is six years old and is conflicted. She still wants to be a politician, but also yearns to help people more directly, like Ahsoka. Leia _loves_ Ahsoka. Breha is inspired and opens up a centre on Alderaan for clones to have their chips removed and as time passes, mental health and physiotheraputic services are added. Festering war injuries are dealt with and prosthetics supplied as needed. Bail, along with a contingent of young clones directly from Kamino, fights for republican funding. The Republic is still rebuilding, so support is slow. It builds. Ahsoka is their agent in the field, zipping back and forth across the galaxy in search of survivors.

Obi-Wan and Leia volunteer in the centre as much as possible. The former Jedi wishes that he could set up something similar for stray Jedi, but he is loath to abandon Leia, especially with Luke still missing. (Any and all leads on the boy end up nowhere.) The Republic still hasn't figured out what the role of the Jedi was in the fall of the previous Republic and the rise of the Empire, so they are hesitant to issue a pardon and apology.

The amount of clones being helped by the Skywalkers and Ahsoka is growing, with well over a hundred finding their way.  And as was bound to happen, the two parties cross. Dantooine is pleasant, with rolling hills and just a quiet enough life for Echo to find peace. The cyborg has been here since before 66 and now lives with X2, another Kaminoan clone (just not a clone of Fett). Thanks to X2, Echo knows of what's become of the rest of his legion and Vader's Fist.  But Dantooine does not often interact with the rest of the galaxy and Echo is unaware of the death of the emperor and Vader. Echo is weeding his garden and enjoying the sun when the shadows of three brothers, two former Jedi, and one child fall over him.

Luke is six years old and Ahsoka is twenty-three when they first meet. Landing Bay J40 is the last place she expects to see her master again, but she'd know his eyes anywhere. She's not even paying attention at first, eyes focused on the map on her datapad, but Jesse's _"Cody?"_ snaps her head up in an instant, only to gape into equally shocked crystal blue. The brothers are interrogating each other about their chips, but she is frozen.

Luke is happily watching Cody reunite with Kix and Jesse and all Anakin can manage is a hoarse suggestion to find somewhere away from public eye. Cody (brilliant Cody) turns back and widens his eyes at the sight, then promptly directs the group towards a local park he can see. Anakin and Ahsoka do not break wary eye contact, both ready to grab their weapons (even as they all gather near a quiet fountain). As Luke sits on a bench, he finally notices the Togrutan and gasps out her full name.

The former Jedi slides her gaze to a suddenly wriggling six year old and chokes out a _"Luke?!"_ in response. Ecstatic that she knows his name, the dam breaks and questions are flowing out more quickly than she can think of responses; a cleared throat beside her and she can see the boy almost physically gather and calm himself, drawing his energy in through the Force. Cody is watching too, and quietly tugs the boy into the trio of brothers, giving Ahsoka a solemn nod of acknowledgement.

Luke's eyes flicker over again when Anakin (Vader?) nudges her elbow and then drags her away from the others, but he takes the hint and remains where he is.

Anakin wants nothing more than to gather his former padawan into his arms and hold her tight, but he can tell she wants to punch him.

Which she does.

And he lets her. He knows he's deserved it. He can feel Luke jump up to protect him but shoots him a Look and his son sits back down. (The three clones are putting tiny braids in his hair; he hasn't had it cut since Tatooine.)

_"So?"_

"I'm sorry. I'm _so_ sorry, Snips." He can see her eyes fill with tears even as her anger radiates off of her. He tentatively reaches out a hand but she punches his shoulder and then launches herself into his arms. Anakin feels himself break and starts shaking with silent sobs. _I missed you. I missed you. I missed you._

"You're so _big_!"

Kix and Jesse glance over in curiosity, but do nothing else.

Anakin pulls down his Force shields and gently extends his frayed end of their former bond and _oh_ , it surges right back into place. The two cling to each other even more tightly. Through their freshly renewed bond, he asks her permission to show her his memories and they touch foreheads. (Just _when_ did she get so tall?) He holds back the worst of them, but impresses upon her his dreams of Padmé's death and Palpatine's promises and subsequent mental poisoning but as with Luke, does not try and remove the blame from himself. He does _not_ show her his anger at how she had left him.

"Dad?" They both look down and snort with laughter, wiping away the remnants of their tears.

Luke is six years old and his brilliantly blond hair is in dozens of messy braids around his shoulders. One of the brothers has even made him a flower crown. Suddenly they're all laughing like nothing is wrong with the galaxy. Even out of earshot of the conversation, the clones can hear how loudly they're laughing and join in. Ahsoka reaches down and scoops up the little boy, easily engaging him in conversation.

Later, when Kix and Jesse ask her about who the bodyguard was, she just says that it was an old Jedi friend for her childhood. Anakin maintains his anonymity.

Even Echo, who has gone through so much mental and physical trauma, does not recognize him. Of course, his focus lies on Kix and Jesse (and Cody, too) as he now easily pins them both down in a wrestling match. But his relative strength means nothing to him when Ahsoka tells him of the rehabilitation facility on Alderaan, where he can get proper mechanical enhancements, or even travel back to Kamino for new limbs, if he so chooses. The two groups do mean to go separate ways, but cannot bear to do so yet, and so X2 cooks a meal for them all and listens raptly with Luke as the four brothers share heroic stories.

Anakin and Ahsoka sit back from the group, him lying on the couch with his head in her lap as she strokes his hair (which he cannot bear to cut either) and they sort through their complicated emotions. With their bond back, no words are spoken, and Anakin keeps the lower half of his face covered. But when Ahsoka mentions that Luke is so blond compared to Leia, Anakin sits up so quickly that only the Force's warning prevents her from getting her chin smashed.

_"What?!"_

She leads him outside into the cool evening air for him to take deep breaths and stop shaking, and then tells him of his brilliant daughter, so much like Padmé but with Anakin's fire and temper. (Leia does a much better job of hiding it though.) Anakin still trembles as she fills him in on the goings-on of Alderaan, mentioning Obi-Wan in passing, but not delving deeper; Anakin's focus is on Leia. He soaks in everything that she tells him, but knows that he could never pull her from her family, as much as he wants to. _Oh_ , and he _so_ wants to gather up his little girl and introduce her to Luke and watch his babies have the childhood together that he never had.  He wants to see if she’s any good at flying and if she enjoys blue milk and where in the galaxy she wants to visit.  He wants to listen to his daughter talk passionately about her favourite things to do, which, according to Ahsoka, are argue and listen to stories about her mother and sneak off and cause mischief (in secret, of course, because princesses must be good examples for everyone else).  But according to Ahsoka, Leia is quite firm in her belief that she belongs on Alderaan.  She is an Organa, _not_ a Skywalker or Amidala (or even a Naberrie).

Hours later, they re-enter the house to find a pile of exhausted clones with Luke on top, braids, flowers, and all.  X2 seems to have gone to sleep in his own room.  Ahsoka lays a gentle hand on Anakin’s shoulder and gives him an even gentler smile.

“Good night, Skyguy.”

Luke is six years old and can’t wait to meet his sister someday.  He knows he has to be patient, but he can do that; he has Dad and meditation to help.  The two Skywalkers spend a lot of time now talking about Leia, especially while they co-pilot _Darklight_.  Cody is still with them, but they left X2 and Echo with Ahsoka and Kix and Echo.  They want the same facilities as the other clones.

When Ahsoka returns to Alderaan with them, they all seem to know to not speak of the other travellers that they met.  The Togrutan woman doles out the share of the serum that Cody gave her, then privately pulls Bail and Obi-Wan aside.  She gives them an edited version of events, saying that Luke is safe and happy with Cody and that he knows that he is always welcome on Alderaan.  Obi-Wan sags in relief, but doesn’t need the Force to know that he will not meet Luke for a very long time. 

Leia is six years old and ready to take on the galaxy.  She has a brother out there somewhere and she now knows that he is the peaceful type, kind and generous with his love.  But until she meets him, she is content with her grown-up best friends, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka.


	3. Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okayyyy taking a break until Sunday. I've written like 7?k words on this but need to write some academic things. See you soon.  
> Also, I'm not done with season 6 of CW, nor have I started Rebels at all, so if some of this is OOC, wellll, blame the Star Wars wiki. just kidding. it's an au.

Luke is seven years old when Anakin realizes that his step-brother and his wife are probably concerned about their nephew.  Luke does assuage some of his guilt though, when he says he doesn’t want to visit them, out of fear that they will force him to stay.  Anakin doesn’t say anything to that, but they record a holo-vid of the boy grinning and telling them that he’s happy and healthy and has already lost eight teeth! And two more are loose!  Luke’s apologetic smile is genuine when he explains that he can’t come back and visit right now (because he wants to be better at defending himself first, which he _doesn’t_ say) but thanks them for being such a great aunt and uncle. 

They hear a rumour of clones living on a different desert planet, but not which one, so they scour Jakku and Er’kit and Samaria and Korriban and Yurb; Cody sees none of his brothers.  Luke has already been the main pilot of _Darklight_ for two months when they land on Seelos and are directed by a communication station operator to “those three paranoid freaks” living in an AT-TE.  As they unload their two speeder bikes from their light freighter (that are _totally_ for practical use only, not father-son bonding time in which they see who is faster at whipping through convoluted natural formations at breakneck speeds), Anakin starts snickering.  
  
“Son, did I ever tell you about the time we used AT-TEs to board a frigate?”

Luke is still giddy with laughter as they pull up to the machine.  Dad has his usual scarf on and Cody, unused to the nasty combination of speed and desert dust, has on a full-face helmet to protect his sensitive eyes and lungs.  With his face pressed up against his father’s back, Luke has no need for this and jumps off the bike with a still-giggling, “Hellooooo!” Three weapons are instantly out and pointed at him, though they lower when they see the small child. (But not before Cody and Anakin have both launched themselves in front of Luke.)

Luke is seven years old and is in love with the most beautiful man that he’s ever seen.  It doesn’t matter that he’s _old_ , like probably _forty_ or something, Luke knows that he’s going to marry this man someday.  The young boy has met dozens of clones, but none look like _this_ , with close-cropped blond hair and a glint in his eye that tells Luke that he’d happily join in the Skywalker death-races and make them even more dangerous.  Luke is smitten and can’t say a word; he just stares up in awe.  (Luke, of course, does not marry this man, not ever.)

Both sides eventually untangle their motives and communicate that they mean no harm, but Cody still does not remove his helmet.  He cannot believe who he sees in front of him.  Beside him, Anakin is silent, as always, but radiates tension through his posture; he keeps his gaze facing downwards, remembering how Ahsoka knew it was him.  Cody asks his brothers if their chips have been removed, stating that his has been, but once they confirm that they are all de-chipped, there is an awkward silence.  The leader of the fraternal trio breaks it, asking what Cody et al. wants.  The Fett member of the _Darklight_ seems shocked into a default setting, blurting out the script they sometimes use to convince clones to come with them for surgery and serum and a ticket to Alderaan, but then peters off at the raised eyebrow of the blond.  The second brother is vaguely familiar, but the third one is a bit more snappish, reminding Cody that they’ve already removed their own chips, thank you very much.

Rex swings down and drops in front of Cody, sensing his brother’s maelstrom of thoughts.  He hesitantly tugs off the helmet and stares into eyes that are identical to his own, but still oh so different. 

_“Cody?!”_

A deep breath and they’re hugging tightly, Rex grinning madly while Cody struggles to compose himself and nod up to Wolffe and Gregor.  Anakin and Luke are still standing back, Anakin gazing down while Luke gazes up, but both are silent, allowing the commanders to reunite properly.  Cody begins again, telling them properly of the serum and the therapeutic services on Alderaan, directing this particularly at Gregor, who seems to have taken the past few years a bit harder than the other two.  Rex has not survived this long without a healthy dose of paranoia, but trusts the tone of Cody’s voice when he says that the masked man is their pilot.  “Doesn’t speak much.” Anakin zips off on a speeder bike and returns with _Darklight_ within fifteen minutes, by which time the brothers have packed their meager belongings and Gregor has been convinced to come along.  They all fear punishment for being clones; Cody’s word is what sways them.  Well, that and the promise of help for Gregor.  Cody loads the other bike back on the light freighter and Luke leads his brothers on board, tugging a bemused Rex along by the hand.

Luke is seven years old but knows _everything_ about their little craft, prattling on and on to Rex about how he’ll _love_ spending time on board and he’s heard _so_ many stories of his _bravery_ and _morality_ and _honor_ and on and on until Anakin sends him a mental request to come to the cockpit and help him pilot.  Luke makes his excuses and runs off, because not even a crush the size of a Hutt can keep him from flying with his dad.  Besides, Anakin needs someone to keep an eye on the controls for the hyperdrive while he takes a leak.  (Thanks the _Force_ the Kaminoans fixed his cock.  The catheter in his Vader suit was worse than even being unable to breathe properly.)   Unfortunately, he cannot keep his eyes from sliding up for a split second when he passes Rex, and the moment their glances meet, Anakin flinches and stumbles off.  And there’s no way that Rex isn’t going to follow him and slam him against a bulkhead, forearm across his throat.

Anakin’s eyes flash yellow for a moment, and then he clenches his teeth and waits for it.  Rex, half a foot shorter, asks him one question, just one.  When Anakin confirms that yes, he is General Skywalker again, not Vader (in personality, at least), Rex welcomes him back and hugs him.  It’s not like they’ve ever hugged before, but there are a lot of firsts going on here.  Luke is insanely jealous that his dad is going to hog Rex _all to himself_ for much of the rest of the trip; Anakin wheedles him into being the Captain for the remainder of the trip (as Cody secretly supervises), and then grabs a bottle of Corellian whiskey and holes himself up in his quarters with Rex.  At first they just sit silently on Anakin’s bunk with their backs up against the wall and drink.  And drink and drink.  Soon they’ve got a strong buzz and, true to male Skywalker form, Anakin opens his heart and pours out everything about Padmé and Palpatine and Obi-Wan and Cody and Luke and Leia and Ahsoka.  And Rex in turn shares how he got surgery to get his chip removed just hours before 66 and how he should have warned everyone sooner and how it’s all his _fault_ and does Obi-Wan really not know that Anakin is alive because he’d probably want to know, to which Anakin reminds Rex with a little smirk that Obi-Wan would want to know that Rex is alright too and they’re drinking more and more and fall asleep with Rex’s head on Anakin’s shoulder, Anakin’s on his.

Luke is seven years old and can tell that Rex is at odds with himself.  The clone knows that Obi-Wan and more of his brothers are on Alderaan, but General Skywalker and his son and Cody are here.  Even Luke’s suggestion of going where he _needs_ to be, not _wants_ to be, doesn’t help.  How can he know where he is needed most?  But when Gregor and Wolffe disembark on Corellia with tickets for a shuttle to Alderaan, he makes the brutal decision to remain on board with the jubilant crew. 

And so three becomes four.  Luke spends his seventh year in agony over his crush.

Leia is seven years old and can tell that Master Obi-Wan is at odds with himself.  The latest two clones to come to their centre bring news of a brother named Rex, a man she’s heard mentioned by Obi-Wan, but never dwelt upon.  And she knows by the way he strokes his beard that he considers Rex as good a friend as he does Bail.  Now that they know Luke is safe in Cody’s capable hands, he’s tempted, so tempted to go running after Rex and Cody and Luke.  But the Jedi are still outlaws under Republican rule, so he is still in hiding. Yet now, he has new focus, and Obi-Wan uses all of his negotiating skills to convince her father and Senator Chuchi and (secretly) Chancellor Mothma to put forth a bill to investigate the Jedi’s role in the apparent attempted assassination plot against Palpatine.  Mothma knows the truth, but needs proof to convince the suspicious Senate.  It takes the better part of the year, but bit by bit, the Senate acknowledges that perhaps the Jedi were right in attempting to kill Palpatine and that the perpetrators of the crime paid for it with their lives and that the massacre should never have happened.  Leia soaks in the bureaucracy and the red tape and makes sharp judgements that she keeps to herself.

Leia is seven years old and knows now that she could never be content with being a Senator.  She will be Chancellor and reshape the galaxy.  She doesn’t quite know how she’ll do this while directly helping people with her own hands, but she’s got a few years to figure it out.

While Obi-Wan sends out secret communications to Yoda and other Jedi hiding out in the galaxy, preparing them, Leia studies and meditates and spends increasing amounts of time in the clone centre.  Back on their feet, many of the clones are at a loss for what to do with their lives now.  A few choose to take up quiet positions in the Alderaanian government or in schools or on farms, but the vast majority want to fight.  And Leia has an idea.  She knows it’s a _bad_ idea, that she should promote traditional Alderaanian peace.  However, the clones want to fight, so who is she to stop them? 

Leia is seven years old, and it takes four months (she’s quite proud to say) for her mother to realize that her daughter has an army.  They’re paid out of her allowance and housed and fed in the clone centre.  She sneaks off each night for three hours and her clones teach her how to drill them.  They teach her how to use blasters much better than Master Obi-Wan ever did.  She drills them and then drills with them. And then Mother knows.  Mother always knows best.  She finds Leia sneaking into her makeup and trying to figure out how to make her mother’s concealer match her lighter skin tone to hide the deep purple circles under her eyes.  Between her academic lessons, Force lessons, volunteering in the clinic, eating, sleeping, drilling with her mini-army, and all of her more royal duties, the small child is _exhausted._ Is this what being the Chancellor will be like? 

She may have to scale back her ambitions.  She expertly manoeuvers her way out of trouble, stating that with Luke safe and Obi-Wan thus on the search for hidden Jedi every few weeks, she needs a better security detail than the one she has now (who didn’t even notice her sneaking out).  Besides, as she tells her parents and master again and again, she doesn’t _want_ Jedi lessons.  She’s a princess.  Breha hides a smile as Bail groans and puts his face in his hands.  He is in _so_ much trouble.  Obi-Wan, amused, says that he expects her to keep meditating and practicing her katas; he’ll check in on her every few months, but for now, she’s free from his tutelage.  With a twinge of guilt, she gives him a huge hug and apologizes for not being a better Jedi.  Her former master just chuckles and says that as long as she remains being Leia, he’ll be happy and proud.  Bail sighs and rearranges Leia’s schedule so that she can fit in “playing” with her army.  Her security detail will be retrained, but her army will _not_ become a part of everything she does.

She’s lied a little bit.  Leia continues practicing what he asked, but scales it down to only half an hour each day.  What she really takes from his teachings is the ability to move matter with the Force.  After two years of lessons, she can do it quite well, and can lift objects as large as a speeder bike and can separate items as small as grains of sand.  But the not-Jedi wants to incorporate this into her drills with her army.  There are fifty clones, in a phalanx of seven by seven (plus Wolffe), all veterans of the war.  They’ve all worked under Force-users before and train their leader to integrate her skills into their simulations.  She is still primarily a princess and unused to the brutality of army life. Katas and dance lessons did not prepare her for the bruises and scrapes and cuts that cover her with bacta patches.  Regardless, Leia works hard, knowing that being a princess does _not_ simply mean quietly doing her duty.  She is going to change the galaxy.

Leia is seven years old and already being called the Little General.


	4. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> RATING WARNING  
> So yeah, there are adults in this fic which means that they sometimes do adult things like stick body parts in orifices. If that's not your jam, leave now. I didn't make it graphic or anything, but, you know, I'm characterizing the adults as all having healthy sex lives. Well, some of them for now.

Luke is eight years old when he visits Alderaan for the first time.  They do not stop for long, but it is enough time for Rex to disembark with a fresh case of serum.  Luke sulks, but then Dad says that they're going to scour the galaxy for old lightsabers for parts. After all, Luke should have his own saber by now. (And Anakin really, _really_ misses having a weapon that feels like an extension of his arm.) The three of them stick together, Cody on the search for clones and the Skywalkers on the hunt for their latest mechanical project. All of them are waiting for Rex to ask to be picked up.

Rex is knuckles-deep in Obi-Wan Kenobi and has no desire to be anywhere else.  Officially, he's living in the clone centre, but Obi-Wan has his own suite in the royal palace and there's just so much room for activities.  He's finding it really difficult to even care about anything other than fucking the former general into the wall. At other times, of course, Obi-Wan goes on his missions to find more Jedi; they're starting to come out of hiding, even just the tiniest bit.  When this happens, Rex provides support to the clone centre (still nameless) in every way possible. But when Obi-Wan comes back, they fuck and fuck and fuck. He does not tell Obi-Wan about Anakin.  Sometimes, Obi-Wan spends the night with Bail, which Rex never minds.  It’s even better when Bail joins them both in bed.  And it’s the absolute best when Bail, Breha, Obi-Wan and Rex all pile into the Organa royal chamber’s massive bed.

Leia is eight years old when she learns about what kind of person Luke is.  When she first dropped by after meeting Luke, Ahsoka had told her much. And yet, Rex has spent several months with him, and so can tell her more.  He tells her of a little golden boy who has the biggest heart of anyone he knows. He tells her how her brother likes flying and taking apart things and putting them back together.  He tells her how Luke loves swimming but hates sand.  And he tells her that her twin is eager to meet her. Which, really, wasn't the brightest moment of his.  The look in Leia's eyes matches anything he's seen in General Skywalker's before suggesting the type of plan that would get Obi-Wan mad at the both of them.

Two nights later, Bail walks into Leia's room to find a note saying that she'll be back in two weeks. Rex too is nowhere to be found.  His daughter's security guards _truly_ need training on working with Force-wielding children.

When a braided head pokes out from behind Rex on the loading ramp, Anakin squeaks in surprise, but hustles them both on board and lifts off as quickly as possible.  As soon as they're in hyperspace, Luke runs out of the cockpit and jumps into Rex's arms.

"Did you see that?! I re-entered and landed and took off and jumped into hyperspace all by myself!"

Rex just grins and says that there's someone who wants to meet him.  Anakin cannot stop staring.

Leia is eight years old and fascinated at being in space for the first time, but the boy in front of her is far more interesting.  She studies him closely. He's not any taller than her and he looks a bit like a ruffian, with his long hair and grease-covered tunic. She looks up at his wide eyes and realizes that she's forgotten her manners. Blushing, she swoops into a deep curtsy and begins to introduce herself.

"You're my sister! I'm Luke!" She is cut off with a tight hug. Oh right. Rex had mentioned that her brother was touchy-feely. But she doesn't mind. She can feel him! Not just physically, but the Force is singing in recognition and it's almost like there is a bond between them already. That's not even possible!

"Are you really? I know all about you, of course. Rex and Ahsoka love to talk about you."

Luke is eight years old and only pauses a moment to twist and grin at Rex before turning back to his sister.  Her hair is much darker than his, similar to the holos that dad has shown him of Mom, braided up into a crown around her head.  Maybe she can do the same for his hair! Dad just sort of sighs at him when he says he doesn't want to cut it. Luke thinks it makes him look wild, like a pirate.  Looking like his sister would be even better though.  He can tell that the material of her jacket and pants are expensive, without even touching them. But her sturdy boots are perfect for the life they lead on the ship.

The mysterious pilot comes up behind Luke and puts his hand on his shoulder. Leia blinks up at him. He's so much taller than Father or Obi-Wan or the clones.  He introduces Cody, and when she asks his own name, he simply smiles and says that she can call him General.  (It is a kind smile, she decides, and a little bit sad too.). Leia does not think he looks anything like a general. He looks like a greasy pirate, like Luke. She smiles and shakes his hand nonetheless, because years of training have taught her to. If he and Luke think that this ship is a respectable home, then she will put on her diplomatic charms and not say a word. She does ask about a fresher, and the General directs her down the hall.

As soon as she's gone, Anakin informs Luke and Cody and Rex that they are _not_ , under any circumstances, to tell Leia of who he is. He does not know yet if she can keep a secret like Ahsoka and Rex, and does not want word spreading about who his son lives with.  Luke nods solemnly, and when Leia returns, he asks her what it's like living with her adopted family. After all, the General adopted him years ago and he's so much happier than he was on Tatooine.

Anakin can only shrug helplessly at Luke's solution.

Leia is eight years old and loves visiting other planets. She's studied them at home to no end, but being here in person, without her protective parents' permission, is an entirely different experience. There's so much pain and hope and spiciness and snow and there are Mon Calamari and Twi'leks and so many other species! Hand in hand with Luke, she pulls him around wherever they go.  She's been with them for three days now and is beginning to see what Ahsoka and Rex meant when they described her twin as sunny. He's almost always smiling; she thinks he's a bit naïve, not having a clue about how the galaxy really runs. He seems so...young, compared to her.

They're lying in their bunk (they refuse to be split up) after meditations one night and she asks him about it. Luke is genuinely surprised that she thinks that he doesn't know about the horrors that take place every day. He isn't offended. After all, she's been shut up in a palace for most of her life, never experiencing poverty or running from the law-enforcers.  He tells her that the best thing that he can do is to smile and help, because for all of these strangers who have had tough lives, what they need most is a hug and some positivity.  If he looks unhappy when rescuing clones, what comfort does that give them?

Leia has a lot to think about, since she is not too proud to acknowledge that she doesn't know everything.  Still though, she can't help but shake the feeling that Luke must be protected at all costs; she will always do so.  They giggle at each other, both rather aware that they have much to learn from the other.

Anakin is thirty years old (how did that happen?) and in a daze. His daughter is brilliant. His son is brilliant. They are brilliant together and are _such_ a mix of him and Padmé.  After years with Luke, Leia is sharp and pragmatic, and when she tells him that she is a general too, he is not at all surprised.  She doesn't comment on the scarf he wears across his face in public, but in private, she comes and sits with him and asks him about the war.  She seems to sense his hesitancy for details, so she never pries into his legion's number or whether or not he is/was a Jedi. But she is fascinated by military tactics and the different cultural practices that he's come across in his three decades.

Though his birthday passed a few months ago, Anakin knows what he wants. After he finds out that Leia has had some saber training, they travel to Ilum for kyber crystals. It stresses him to no end to let two eight year olds loose in the caves by themselves, but the journey for a saber crystal must be taken individually.  When they all exit to the patiently waiting Rex and Cody, Anakin breathes a sigh of relief and does not ask about what they encountered in their private experiences.

Anakin is able to assemble his new saber in minutes; he's had years of practice after losing so many of his own.  He preaches patience to Luke and Leia when they get frustrated. It takes them over a day until they perfectly put their sabers together, within minutes of one another.

Luke and Leia are eight years old the first time they hear that their saber is their life. (Obi-Wan had always picked up on Leia's distance from the weapon and never pushed it. Somehow, it's different now).  Rex is snickering and even Cody smiles at this, the smile growing wider when Anakin turns and glares half-heartedly at them. He knows that they'd heard Obi-Wan lecture him long after his padawanship ended, not even including the times Anakin gave the same lecture to Ahsoka.  He briefly wonders if Qui-Gon ever did he same for Obi-Wan, then returns his focus to his children.

He sees Leia's katas for the first time and instantly can tell that she's worked with his old master.  Anakin shows his children how to switch the saber to training mode and they go through the katas again, sabers alit.  Leia has more experience than Luke, but he picks it up quickly, surpassing her abilities within days.  While Leia appreciates the usefulness of knowing how to operate a saber, Luke has a passion for it.  Even when they are in hyperspace and Leia is deep in conversation with Anakin about Dathomir or Endor or Mandalore, Luke practices, swirling and slashing his saber again and again.  His hair is down to his waist, so it comes with no surprise to Leia when he cuts off a chunk of his hair.  Even Force-sensitive children are not always aware of their surroundings, especially when it comes to dead keratin.  She takes pity on him and uses the saber to even it out so that it reaches the middle of his back, then braids it up into a crown like her own. Luke loves it. Anakin can hardly breathe; his heart is so full of love for his kids.

Eventually, their two weeks come to an end. They drop her off a day early, as to not arouse the attention of the palace. Luke is in tears and even she is finding it hard to tear herself away from him.  They promise to see each other soon and she sneaks back into her bedroom, new saber tucked carefully into the back of her wardrobe.  Rex stays on board, not wanting to risk kidnapping charges. He trusts the Organas and Obi-Wan, but people are unpredictable when it comes to the safety of their children.  Leia doesn't tell anyone where she was.

Months pass and Leia focuses on her legion. Her time with the General has paid off and when she introduces some of his tactics to her men, she pretends not to hear their mutterings about how she reminds them of that crazy General Skywalker from the 501st.  It makes her proud to be compared to her dad, despite what he turned into. She wonders if the General knew her dad, and decides to ask him the next time she sees him.

Leia is eight years old and doesn't understand feelings quite as well as Luke does. She know this, but it doesn't help when she walks out to her favourite corner of the garden and sees Obi-Wan looking miserable, kneeling in the grass with his eyes closed. She's seen him meditate before and this is different.  She bites her lip and tries to think of what her twin would do, then remembers what he said about a hug. Leia walks to Obi-Wan, taps him on the shoulder, and holds out her arms in question.

Obi-Wan feels like his life is falling apart, and then little Leia offers him physical comfort and he takes it. He sweeps her into an embrace and holds her tight, struggling to keep tears in check.  She hugs him back, confused, but wanting to provide comfort. Obi-Wan doesn't say anything; he is lost in his thoughts of Anakin, his protégé, his partner, his best friend.  He misses him so much that his heart almost physically hurts, but Anakin is gone. Anakin has been gone for at least eight years. His spirit lives on in Leia, for she is so much his daughter, but she's not him, the padawan that he failed.  Obi-Wan wishes he had known about Palpatine's influence on him earlier and reached out to his Anakin. He wishes he had told Anakin that he knew about his affair with Padmé and it was okay and that he'd help them hide it.  It's too late now for that, and he releases Leia with a sad, grateful smile.  She just wishes that there was more she could do to help.

Luke is eight years old and can tell when his dad is up to something.  Leia has been gone for a few months and Anakin has been brooding the whole time.  He’s not angry or sad or anything, but he’s thinking a lot.  And one day, he turns to a very surprised Luke and tells them they’ll be going back to Tatooine in a few months.  He needs a bit more time to figure out the details of his plans, so they’ll have to wait.  Twenty-one years ago, Anakin Skywalker made a promise to himself, and he thinks that it’s about time that he kept it. 

Luke is eight years old and _incredibly_ curious about what his dad has planned.  He trusts him though, so he knows that it won’t be too dangerous.


	5. Nine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops. Another one. Bumping the rating up again. Sorry, guys.

Luke is nine years old when his dad teaches him how to podrace. They pick up two old podracers from Jakku to practice and Anakin goes over the basics. First, the cockpit is not simply a place to stand while being pulled along by two engines. The cockpit is the racer's home base, where they make the decisions that can save or destroy their life. Second, podracing is one of the most dangerous sports. It is not the sport itself that can kill you, but that it is bet upon. When people have money at stake, they do anything to keep it. Third, the purposeful use of the Force is illegal in the races. Luke nods eagerly and they pass months zipping through more and more complex topography until Anakin is satisfied with both of them.

Now that he knows his pod as well as he knows _Darklight_ , it's time to change it. They spend a few more months searching for mechanical parts to tweak and customize their pods to fit each of their bodies and needs perfectly. Cody is not impressed, but Rex wants to join in. Anakin flatly denies him, saying that the only way a human can win is to be Force-sensitive. He does not want to lose any more friends.

Instead, they happen across a few old friends; Ahsoka, Kix, and Jesse are in the same diner as them on Corellia, and the reunion involves lots of hugging and excited retellings of adventures. A decision is made that the others will join the crew of the _Darklight_ , especially once Ahsoka sheepishly admits that they crashed their previous transport. Anakin laughs and grins proudly, giving her a high five that turns into a quick hug. It's so good to have Ahsoka back. The clones are having an eating contest with Luke while the two former Jedi's heads tip towards each other in deep conversation as they fill each other in on their activities. They decided that they can tell Jesse and Kix of Anakin's identity. It goes over with little fuss, especially since Rex, Cody, and Ahsoka all trust him.

And so Ahsoka is the one to lead the company of clones that accompanies Luke when he visits his overwhelmed aunt and uncle. Luke happily tells them of what he's done since he last saw them, and earnestly, honestly promises to come back and visit sooner. Meanwhile, Anakin is visiting Jabba.

Luke is nine years old when the day of his first race dawns. He's nearly as excited as when he met Leia for the first time. She can feel his excitement across the galaxy, but this time knows that the random emotion must be from Luke; she smiles and settles back into sleep. But Luke gets into the desert-appropriate clothes that are similar to what he wore when he first left Tatooine; Anakin looks similar, and this time, they both have scarves around their mouths and goggles on their eyes. The mad glint in the eyes under the goggles is identical as well. Cody seems to be the only one not taken by their mania, but Ahsoka and his three brothers are almost bouncing into space with their excitement. All five of them have their faces covered as well. Anakin is the only one who knows the details of his plans, but the Skywalkers winning the race and anonymity of all seems crucial.

When they are announced as Bigs and Smalls, there are jeers from the crowd. Many have tried to be the second human to win any podrace on Tatooine and all have failed. In fact, all have died, and this crowd seems nasty and thirsty for blood. The odds are massively against them and no one bets on them, with the uncharacteristically quiet exception of a certain Hutt. They're off without a hitch, both humans hovering around the middle of the swarm immediately. The crowd gleefully waits for one of them to be crushed into the sand, but lap after lap, the others drop out via injury or death, and Bigs and Smalls are still in the race. The crowd's mood has changed, and the bloodlust has turned to excitement. Luke and Anakin are in their element. The latter knows that he really shouldn't promote violence in his son, but when their last competitor tries to slip up between them, the duo slam together, trapping her between them. The damage to her two engines is too much, and the Trandoshan tumbles head over heels until she is long gone behind them. The crowd is wild. Whatever the outcome, a human will win for the first time in twenty-one years. Anakin's two greatest instincts, as a fighter and a father, battle, but he lets Luke pull ahead ever so slightly to win the race.

Luke is nine years old and hard-pressed today whether this is the best moment of his life or not. He loves his patchwork family, but this is podracing! He and Dad are both filthy with Tatooine's sand, but whooping and hollering as he is lifted onto his dad's shoulders and brought to the podium. Dad says he can keep the credits of his winnings all to himself, even though that's not the point. There is a desert party in the Eastern Dune Sea, Jesse tells him, and they tug him off to have child-appropriate fun.

Ahsoka shoots Anakin a questioning look, but he returns one that she knows means he'll explain later. She gives him a fond smile, then goes to join the others. Anakin has work to do. He ducks behind a building in Mos Eisley to change his clothes; he is then off to ensure that Jabba's side of the deal is kept.

Jabba is suspicious of the Sith before him. The man would appear harmless, were it not for the yellow eyes gleaming from under the shadow of his heavy hood. In one day, he's made Jabba double his wealth. Somehow, he knew his pet podracers would not be taken seriously and then win, so Jabba turned a healthy profit. But what he wants in return? The Sith claims that the abolition of slavery on Tatooine will lead to an overall more prosperous economy and greater riches for the Hutts, but Jabba struggles to comprehend. It is known that slavery is the fastest and most effective way to power.

The Sith clearly disagrees, darkness oozing out of him and across the floor of Jabba's cantina. The Hutt shivers, great rolls of fat jiggling as he speaks with his advisors in Huttese.

"The deal, Jabba, was that you would change the economy into one primarily based on casinos and gambling, _not_ slavery." The Sith's voice is ice and fire at the same time. "My people require Tatooine to be a gambler's sanctuary, above all else. We have no want for slaves here, but a thriving economy where _everyone_ has credits to spend. Of course, if you disagree with our... _methods_ , I am sure that other members of the Grand Hutt Council will be more than eager to offer their services."

A red lightsaber ignites at his side.

Jabba cannot even bear to listen to the Sith. It is not often that he feels fear in his own home and he does not like it. He acquiesces.

"You have one year. I will return."

Luke is nine years old, and so planet-wide celebration at a human winning a race exhausts him by the middle of the night. When Anakin, wrapped up again in his sandy brown Tatooine rags and mask, turns up at the bonfire in the desert, Luke is fast asleep in Cody's arms. The other clones are getting to know the locals, but do not protest when their party leaves; they've had a lot to drink and could do with a sleep.

Anakin and Ahsoka are alone in the cockpit when he pilots them safely off-planet.

"You did alright today, Skyguy." She's a lot taller than before, so her head does not quite sit on his shoulder as well as it used to. She raises a questioning brow at him and waves a bottle of Corellian whiskey. He grins, high off the success of his plan, and they each take a seat, staring out into hyperspace. They've got twenty standard hours of hyperspace travel before they'll be as far as they want from Tatooine, and so the bottle passes easily back and forth between them.

"You know, Snips, I never really thanked you for sticking by me." He's buzzed, but the sentiment in Anakin's voice is real.

"Oh, you know, I'm just returning the favour." She goes to punch him playfully on the shoulder, and suddenly they're kissing over the space between the bucket seats. Ahsoka can feel her former master shudder under her lips, then pull her closer.

 _Force_ , it felt so good to be so close to someone he loved again. He groans as she switches from her seat to his, straddling him and running her fingers deep into his hair.

"Wait, are you sure you want to do this?"

"Snips, _please_." She's not complaining as he's got one hand up the front of her tunic and the other gently stroking her right lek. Ahsoka also has a hand up his tunic, tugging down his leggings. She grinds against him and then he's in her and they're thrusting and rocking against each other, hyperspace a brilliant background to Ahsoka's head. She finishes first, then him, and they hold each other incredibly tightly. They are not just connected physically, but through the Force, and it feels _amazing_.

"Bed?"

Luke is only nine years old, but as he eats his breakfast, he knows that something has happened. Both Dad and Ahsoka look incredibly uncomfortable, a direct contrast to the manic joy of yesterday. Rex knows first, eyes flitting between the two until his mouth is struggling to keep straight. Ahsoka shoots him a glare when he loudly begins to cough to cover up a laugh.

"Do I have to remind you that there is a child at this table?" And so now Luke knows that it is something they think he's too young for.

"Did you two have sex?!"

Anakin chokes on his toast and starts coughing, while Ahsoka's copper skin turns a dark brown as she blushes. Cody's eyes are wide and Rex lets loose, howling with laughter. Kix and Jesse have evil, evil grins on their faces.

"What? I lived on a farm. I've seen two banthas having sex."

Anakin's face is in his arms. His muffled voice tells Luke that he never has to worry about that here, because that is _never_ happening again between him and Ahsoka. Luke turns his curious eyes to her but she shakes her head in accordance.

"Luke, sometimes, when people are good friends, they mistake that friendship for something else. They make a very, very, _very_ big mistake. Trust me; that is never happening again." Luke is puzzled at this, but accepts it. As he turns back to his breakfast, Kix loses it and collapses into Jesse, almost unable to stand for laughing too hard. Luke feels like he is missing out on the humour of the situation; perhaps it's a grown-up thing.

Leia is nine years old. When Ahsoka drops by the palace for "girl time" with her and her mother, she knows something is up. Ahsoka refuses to talk, but a few weeks later, when Leia begs for a visit to Luke again, she turns a most un-Togrutan shade of green and begs Leia to change her mind. The princess is adamant, however, and off they go. Ahsoka makes up some sort of excuse about Leia needing to go on a journey of the Force. Obi-Wan isn't on planet to counter her terrible line, so Ahsoka comms Cody and they meet up on the other side of Alderaan.

Leia puts aside her curiosity at Ahsoka's embarrassment when she hears that they have recently been on Tatooine. Tatooine has been making galactic headlines lately. The most influential Hutt on the planet has freed all of his slaves and hired them, with pay, to build a gambling complex to support podracing, of all things. Leia is as confused by this as the next politician, but when the General lets a smirk slip, she knows he's had a hand in this. When asked why, he has one answer for her.

"I don't like slavery."

She gazes shrewdly at him. Obi-Wan had sent a comm to Alderaan saying that he would be away for a while to deal with a potential Sith issue on Tatooine. If the crew of _Darklight_ were allying with a Sith, something was wrong.  The next planet they’re off to explore for clones is Eliad.  They don’t expect to find any, but Cody leads his brothers away from the Skywalkers.  The three of them had not had time alone as a family in quite some time and Leia looks to be bursting to talk.  Anakin knows that something is up, but leads the children through meditation before they practice using the Force to move boulders.  When Leia cannot hold in her questions any more, Anakin simply replies that when one is powerful enough in the Force, it is easy to disguise oneself with a Force glamour to appear a desired way; it is especially effective against weak beings like Jabba.  He does not come out and tell them what exactly he had done, but lets them infer.  Leia is relieved when she realizes that he simply changed his appearance, until she realizes as well that it could work both ways, and that a powerful Sith could easily disguise themselves as light.  She sincerely hopes that the General is in the former category, not the latter.

Leia and Luke are nine years old and just beginning to truly understand the complexities of the adult world. 


	6. Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh...it's been awhile. As it turns out, it's hard to write when it's not final paper time. Separate from that, this chapter was super hard to write because Important Events occur and I wanted them to be perfect. I'm also trying to shift the language away from the more childish tone it took earlier on, now that the twins are growing up a bit. Pleeease let me know what you think? Be! Critical! Constructively! Critical!

Leia is ten years old and at an impasse for what to do with her army.  Alderaan is at peace and there are no wars to fight, but her men are soldiers and looking for action.  There isn’t much that she can do with them for now, so she sends them to carry out relief work when natural disasters strike different parts of her planet.  Wolffe is happy to lead.  Rex’s friend, Echo, is quite used to his regrown limbs, supplied by the clone centre, as paid for by the Republic.  He’s itchier than the rest to get out in the field, so when he catches the Little General sneaking out of the palace, he doesn’t alert anyone, in exchange for coming along with her.  She does need protection, after all, and he can provide it.  He doesn’t know that this is the third time she’s run off for adventure.  Leia is simply impressed that someone finally caught her. (When he later recognizes General Skywalker, he looks to Rex for guidance, who gives him a little grin at Echo’s disbelief.)

Obi-Wan is frustrated.  Despite his best efforts, the remaining Jedi in the galaxy are content to live out the rest of their lives in hiding.  They are scared and he does not blame them.  Quinlan Vos and Kanan Jarrus are open to help, but with no one else willing to rebuild the Order, Obi-Wan is stuck.  He is lonely too; Rex hasn’t been back to Alderaan in two years, Bail and Breha are busy rebuilding the Republic, and Ahsoka throws herself into her work in the clone centre.  He can see tension in every muscle of her body; he suggests a mission off-planet to keep looking for Jedi and clones.  They both know that chances of success are slim, but anything with a goal is better than the monotony of planetary life.  Leia is gone when they decide to leave.  Bail appears frustrated and yet doesn’t worry, so neither do they.  That being said, when Obi-Wan feels a familiar lurch in the Force, they rush from Ord Mantell to nearby Ithor in the hopes of finding Leia. 

Obi-Wan stresses the entire way.  Leia has been capable of controlling her presence in the Force since she was five years old.  For the girl to break through her mental shields, something must have seriously shaken her.  Once they leave hyperspace and land at the spaceport of Tafanda Bay, Ahsoka takes responsibility for the ship in case of need of emergency getaway.  Obi-Wan strides off; Leia’s Force signature is hidden again, but their faint master-apprentice bond tells him that she is nearby, just not in the danger in which he formerly believed her to be.  He ducks through arches hanging with flowering plants, away from the hustle of the main market, and stops dead at the entrance to a near-empty square, struggling to breathe.  Thirty paces away, a man stands with his arms out to the side, eyes closed even under the shade of a leafy tree.  A million thoughts race through his head, the least of which is that this explains where Leia runs off to, but primarily, _Cody_.  Obi-Wan hides back behind a column (not that he’d admit it) and focuses on regulating his breaths. 

Luke is ten years old and sees the perfect step towards his goal.  A man in brown robes is wider than Luke and so is used as a barrier for half a second before the boy sprints across the yard, laughing wildly towards Cody.  He’s going to make it! But no, Obi-Wan jerks to help the boy, even as he giggles his way into a doggy pile of clones.  It seems that some clones—is that Kix and Jesse and Echo?  Oh, _that’s_ where Rex has gotten to—have been tasked with preventing Luke from reaching Cody.  They fail colossally.  Luke uses a mini-Force explosion to throw the three grown men off of him and dart forwards to smack the hand of Cody.

“Ha! I win!” The blond boy—can it truly be Luke?!—does a victory dance and high fives Cody.  Still hidden, Obi-Wan studies his former right-hand man, the same man who tried to kill him.  He looks older, but has obviously taken the serum.  He’s not as exuberant as his four brothers, and yet his smile down at Luke is warm.  Luke begs for a fresher, so Rex slings his arms around the boy’s shoulders and they walk off, the other three following in search of iced kaff.  Cody shoots them a fond smile, then sits against the tree in rest, eyes closed.  Obi-Wan is still cloaked in the Force; Cody does not hear him approach, nor sit down facing him.  The Jedi reaches out and touches his arm to Cody’s, and the clone’s eyes fly open as he scrabbles back in panic, terror all over his face.  Obi-Wan tries to appear as non-threatening as possible while he talks Cody down.  When Cody realizes that his former general does not blame him for Order 66 and does not wants revenge, an array of emotions ripples over his visage and he lets out a teary _“Thank you”_. They grasp forearms and all is well between them.  The others have not yet returned when Obi-Wan remembers Leia.  When asked, Cody says that yes, she is with their little band, but hesitates at the questioning of her exact location.  Obi-Wan prods, and discovers that she is in a garden not fifty paces away.  Cody warns him that he will be surprised at what he will find; even as he strides off, leaving Cody to wait for the rest under the tree, Obi-Wan surmises that nothing can shake him after being reunited with Cody. 

He is wrong. 

Leia is ten years old and she is frustrated with herself.  She and the General are in a manicured garden within Tafanda Bay; he is trying to teach her how to use the Force to assess the amount of sentient beings in a given area, but it’s harder than it looks, especially when some can hide themselves either from the Force or within the Force.  Or both.  This morning, she had pushed too hard and let out a mental shockwave through the Force, giving Luke a headache.  Their connection has only been growing since she and Echo joined up with the crew of _Darklight_ three weeks ago.  She sits facing the General, both cross-legged; she cannot see behind herself and thus does not know yet why the man freezes up the way that he does.  (The General will later use this as a lesson on discovering people hidden in the Force.)  He tells her to join Cody, _now_ , and not to re-enter the garden until he tells her to.  As she rises and turns, she sees her other master, trembling, but still looking sterner than he’s ever been in her presence.  When Leia is under the arched entry to the garden, she hears the ignition of a light saber and whips back around to level a glare at Obi-Wan and then the General.

“Don’t you _dare_ kill each other.”  One more haughty scowl at the two of them, then she flounces off to Cody, and the former master and padawan are alone.

“So, you’re alive.” Obi-Wan swallows hard, fighting to maintain a blank face. There’s no question about who is in front of him.  His eyes, his proportions, his posture; Obi-Wan knows this man almost better than himself.  “I must say, Va—”

“ _Don’t!_ ”  His eyes are the only part of his face that is visible, and yet they convey so much emotion, as ever.  “That man is dead and has _stayed_ dead.  Please, if not for my sake, then for Luke’s.”  Anakin begs Obi-Wan, but it seems to only enflame him.

“For _Luke?!_ ” The venom in the Jedi’s voice is almost palpable.  “Is that who you were thinking of when you slaught—”

“ _Stop!_ ” Anakin jumps up, almost in a panic.  “If you mean to drag my crimes out of me, do as you must, but _not_ in public where it can endanger the rest.”  He paces and rambles.  “I do not want to hurt you, Obi-Wan, truly; I never have.  You are—you are the one person who has always tried to protect me and I don’t _deserve_ that.  I don’t deserve any of this, not Luke or Leia.  Oh, Obi-Wan, Luke is so _good_ and—” His eyes are filling with tears now and he breaks off his words to swipe them away.  It is almost too much to see Obi-Wan again but he _needs_ to get this out and tell the other man how he feels. “—and I’m _sorry, I’m so sorry,_ _Master, please forgive me;_ I never meant for any of this to happen and I’m _sorry._ ” He can’t help himself and breaks into sobs, sinking to the grass and drawing his knees up to his chest.  Anakin hears the retraction of the laser blade as Obi-Wan kneels beside him and rest a hand on his shoulders.  He shudders—it’s been _ten years_ since he’s felt the comforting gestures of his master—and practically launches himself at Obi-Wan, wrapping his arms around his neck.

Obi-Wan, for all of his earlier accusations, is clinging back just as tightly, taking equally deep, shaky breaths.  He sits properly and draws Anakin properly into his lap to hold him.  Anakin is thirty-two and far too old and tall for this, but they enjoy the company all the same. 

“ _I missed you._ ”

Leia is ten years old and is terrible at doing what she has been told.  While Cody is busy comming the rest to return right now from their iced kaff adventure, the princess sneaks off to peek in at the General and Obi-Wan.  When she sees them wrapped up in each other on the ground, she lets out a small sigh of relief, then marches over.  The General raises his head and then awkwardly clambers out of Obi-Wan’s lap.  He raises his scarf over his eyes to rub at his whole face, then takes a deep breath and tells Leia that they need to speak in private.  Obi-Wan takes the hint, and with one last clasp of his hand to Anakin’s shoulder, he grants them that privacy. 

Leia is not impressed, not with Luke or Cody or Rex or Echo or Jesse or Kix or least of all, with the General, her _father_.  Other than five minutes ago, when she rejoined him, she has never seen him this nervous, and so gives him the benefit of the doubt.  But she is still fuming at the thought that everyone knew the truth and that no one decided to tell her.  As the General keeps talking though, she simmers down, even feeling a swell of sympathy for this man, who thinks that he does not deserve to even be loved.  Leia can forgive him, at least, since he has gone through something that she can never understand.  She has a feeling that Luke understands better than anyone else.

Luke is ten years old and about to meet his hero (after Dad, of course).  He has been hearing stories of his father’s glory days in the Clone Wars and of course, Obi-Wan Kenobi, model Jedi Knight, has featured prominently in them.  When he returns from the café with an iced treat in one hand, he sees Cody deep in conversation with a bearded man.  Were Leia and Dad _still_ in Force training?  Apparently not, as Leia strides, yes, strides out of the garden to turn in a full circle and glare at the clones, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka.  He can tell that she’s irritated and sends waves of comfort over their bond.  When Dad sheepishly smiles at him from behind her, Luke knows that Leia knows.  Dad introduces him to Obi-Wan and Luke can’t help but be suspicious of the man that the clones and Ahsoka have been keeping secrets from.  But Obi-Wan is in awe of the little boy (who has definitely inherited Padmé’s height, like Leia) who looks _so_ much like Anakin used to and so he is patient and kind and soon he has Luke’s never-ending questions to front. 

Naturally, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka hire someone to transport their ship back to Alderaan and join the _Darklight_.

Anakin and Ahsoka are still a bit awkward, but other than some smirks from some of the clones, the matter of their sleeping together has been dropped and they coo together at Obi-Wan leading the twins through meditation exercises.  The calmness of that particular activity has never fully appealed to the former general and commander of the 501st.  After Obi-Wan sends a message to the Organas to let them know that Leia will return in a month, the ship maintains some sense of routine.  He and Anakin are still trying to sort out their issues and there is a lot of weeping and sobbing (mostly on Anakin’s part) as well as a lot of shouting and hugging (on both of their parts).  Anakin grows closer to Leia now that she is aware of their familial connection and the princess is fascinated by their similarities.  As much as they both love Luke and his optimism to bits, neither of them truly understand his perspective; father and daughter are both too cynical.  Obi-Wan and Luke grow closer too, through their love for the Jedi arts of using their sabers and the Force.  Luke is immensely comfortable with the man, though Obi-Wan does not take the paternal place in his heart that Anakin and Cody do.  Leia is still his sister; that hasn’t changed.  When Anakin sends them a suspicious look for snuggling in a corner and giggling, an impudent Leia has a question.

“Did the Jedi ever have carnal relations with their former masters or padawans?”  The entirely-too-innocent question results in Luke and the clones rolling about in laughter, Anakin and Ahsoka glaring at Luke with heated cheeks, and, to everyone’s surprise, the tips of Obi-Wan’s ears turning red.  Obi-Wan, unaware of the motive behind her question, answers truthfully; not all Jedi pursued those activities, but yes, some certainly did, as long as attachment was not created.  (Luke thinks that the Jedi’s abstinence from attachment is dumb.  Everyone knows that love makes people stronger.)  Leia’s eyes narrow, and then—

“But doesn’t that create an unequal power balance in the relationship?” She continues.  “It would be as inappropriate as if someone slept with their commanding officer!”  Suddenly, Rex is not laughing anymore and the redness on Obi-Wan’s ears is spreading.  Leia is sharp, far, far too sharp, and Luke sends her a mental shove that tells her she’s gone a bit too far.  She states that she’s wrong, as all parties involved would have been adults and thus in control, then flees with Luke to the head for a snack and a dressing-down by her twin.  The discomfort of the silence in the vacuum left behind is almost palpable, until Kix cracks that Leia is already preparing for the Senate, and then it dissolves into camaraderie.

Leia is ten years old and knows when an apology is needed, and so she approaches her dad, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, and Rex separately.  They know that she is still young though, and unaware of the true stresses of war, so they explain how sometimes, such norms are thrown away in a search for comfort.  She thinks she can understand that.

Months later, when Anakin returns to Tatooine to intimidate Jabba once more, a hooded Leia comes along as his ‘apprentice’.  Neither of them understand why Obi-Wan and Luke do not find the humour in this.  Ahsoka finds it hilarious. 

Leia and Luke are ten years old and feel like they have a proper family together for the first time.  Leia is an Organa at heart and loves her parents for it, but Anakin and Luke do not belong with the Organas, and so perhaps it is okay to have two families.  


	7. Eleven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was totally planning on getting this out within a few days of Ten, but then I got an idea and it wouldn't leave my brain. So, tell me what you think of...
> 
> A Star Wars/MCU (largely Agents of SHIELD) crossover where Anakin and Obi-Wan are Inhumans whose special power is pretty much the Force. Nick Fury and Jane Foster will of course have roles. I also don't know if it would be more saga-style like this or more episodic, dealing with Loki and the Kree and Hydra et al. as they come along. I've thrown most writing conventions of proper sentence structure away in Five and I don't know if I'd continue it.
> 
> As usual, please let me know of any errors, especially with continuity. I run so many ideas through my head for this fic that I sometimes forget which ones I actually chose. 
> 
> Thoughts?

Luke is eleven years old when he officially becomes Obi-Wan's padawan.  Anakin never experienced life in the crèche before beginning his own apprenticeship, and so there is a large gap in his knowledge of Jedi history and philosophy. Luke accepts Obi-Wan's offer to teach him on two conditions: Anakin and Ahsoka and Cody and Rex can continue to teach him their particular skill sets, and Luke is never going to follow the Jedi rule about attachments. Ever. Obi-Wan thinks to how Anakin's love for Luke helped him claw back from the Sith way, and so agrees. After all, despite his preachings, he himself has never thought much of that particular philosophy.  Obi-Wan can easily see Anakin's mark on Luke's style of using the saber and Force and marvels at Luke's ability with his laser sword. And yet, he pushes the boy further.  Luke learns about the push and pull between the Jedi and Sith. He learns about the Je'daii and various schisms between the two sides of the Force. He learns about Ulic Qel-Droma and Revan and Malak and Kaan and Bane and Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn.

Leia does not learn any of this.

Leia is eleven years old and has received a stern talking-to from her parents about running off every couple of months. Their frustration at their daughter's evasive actions aside (and her not bringing Luke to meet them), she needs to maintain a consistent presence on her planet and with the government so that she can be viewed as a valid and capable future leader.  So with a huge hug and kiss to Dad, Luke, and the rest of her _Darklight_ family, Leia pledges to stay on Alderaan for at least a full year; the only place she’ll go is with her father to the Senate. By now, she and Luke have strengthened their bond enough to send emotions and even vague images at each other from across the galaxy, so they do not worry too much about when they will next see each other. Anakin's bond with her is still much weaker, so he stresses whenever she gets out of range. Having Luke's and Obi-Wan's and Ahsoka's Force presences close by helps soothe his anxieties.

And so Leia turns to the Senate. She becomes her father's personal aide, always at his side and hearing every snippet of information that he does. She absorbs. To help her in this, Bail gives her a protocol droid named C-3PO. He's simply the oddest droid she's ever met, but her time with Dad and Luke has given her patience with the peculiarities that some custom droids have.  (He hasn't been wiped in over ten years, so has had quite a bit of time to accumulate a personality.).  It's not just C-3PO who has drawn out her Skywalker tendencies. There are whispers in the palace, the Assembly of Alderaan, even the Senate that she has changed. While Leia has always pushed back against the more demure expectations of her, she's now thrown all of that to the wind.

She fights, fights so hard to bring attention to the issue of slavery in the Outer Rim. (She's not foolish enough to think that they've solved the universe's dark underbelly through Dad's deal with Jabba.) She fights to compensate the clones for their years of service to the Republic. She fights for memorials for the Jedi and clones and all of the civilians lost in the Clone Wars. Her voice does not have much clout yet, but Father's does, especially in this post-Empire Senate that celebrates the masterminds behind the fledgling Resistance.  These campaigns of hers take time, so when she finally has one of her (via Father) bills passed, she is elated.

Obi-Wan and Luke are debating over the basic tenets of the Jedi Code when the master receives a message from Senator Organa. His presence is requested in front of the Galactic Senate to discuss the future of the Order.

Luke is eleven years old and knows that his place is at his master's side.  If the Senate has prioritized the Jedi, then he needs to be there to help show that the tradition of stability has been continued. Anakin disagrees. While he trusts Obi-Wan to have Luke's best interests at heart, Anakin hates politicians.  He also has not been separated from Luke since he picked up his son from Tatooine. Finally, he concedes. (Obi-Wan has also ignored the Jedi method of removing their young from parental influence.  That would be just cruel to the Skywalkers.)  Coruscant has some of the most advanced facial recognition technology, so before the two Jedi are dropped off, Anakin finds a full-face helmet and dresses as a common security guard.  As he presses Luke into a tight goodbye hug, the Force gives no warning, but still Anakin frets. When it's Obi-Wan's turn for an embrace, Anakin pleads in whispers to bring his son back.  With a solemn nod, master and padawan are gone.

Within minutes, Anakin is a wreck.

By the time _Darklight_ joins the queue for launch, he can barely breathe and feels like everything is pressing in on him. He needs his children.  Cody is there instead and ensures that the worrying rest of the crew backs off. He talks to Anakin, gets him to focus of breathing and the peace of the Force. And Anakin comes down from his panic with a clear goal in mind.  With his helmet on his head and saber in his boot, he leaps off the ship and into a tight opening between two containers in the spaceport.  He hasn’t been back to Coruscant since he was Vader and he finds it so much easier to manoeuver now; it’s as if he’s a young knight again, sneaking out to meet with Padmé.  He knows this part of the city-planet like his own saber.  Slipping into an empty repulsorpod is easy, especially with the aid of the Force; everyone knows that the Rommian senator never actually attends meetings of the Senate.  The legislative force has not yet told Obi-Wan what they want him there for, as Anakin can see him across the chamber, an excited Luke at his side.  He stays in the shadows as many of the other repulsorpods fill, including (he smiles) that of the Alderaanians.  Even with his children shielding strongly, he can easily tell that they are struggling not to acknowledge each other.

Obi-Wan is thrilled to find that the Senate will be funding the return of the Jedi.  He’s less thrilled to find out that they want him to lead it, but knows that he has long been seen as the most textbook Jedi across the galaxy.  When his padawan is introduced as Luke Skywalker, the Senate roars with approval and the decision is made.  Obi-Wan will supervise the creation of a new, permanent island in the Great Western Sea, far enough from the old temple to start anew, but still on Coruscant and able to take advantage of the protection of being on a core planet.  Perhaps this time, without the influence of a Sith temple below it, the temple will grow to house the eventually revived Jedi Order.  Later, when Leia has pulled off Luke by the hand to show him around the Senate’s rotunda, Obi-Wan and Bail share lazy kisses in the man’s office.  The prince-senator admits that he is relieved at Luke’s health and good sense.  He can tell that Obi-Wan is hiding something from him, like Leia and Rex and Ahsoka, but he doesn’t press, just smiles sadly when the Jedi says that he won’t be returning to Alderaan but for short visits.  At least they’ll be on the same planet when Bail is performing his senatorial duties on Coruscant.

Leia is eleven years old and thinks she knows the Senate building fairly well by now.  She is thus thoroughly shocked to be scooped into the arms of a masked guard, until he lets down his Force shields.  Luke grins beside her at the reunion and their rapid-fire questions at each other.  Love flows between the three Skywalkers and they all eventually part with a reminder to Leia to watch old holos of her mother’s speeches to the Senate.  Anakin feels much better about leaving his children in the hands of Bail and Obi-Wan, and retreats to _Darklight_ with a load off of his shoulders.  He’ll still worry (because that’s what parents do), but thinks on how he was two years younger than the twins when he ran off with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan.  He sighs.

Anakin feels so _alone_.  He had only had Obi-Wan back for a few months before he left him, taking his son along.  Leia’s gone too, and while Anakin adores the clones, it doesn’t feel like enough.  Ahsoka tries to distract him from his moodiness with jokes and sparring, but it only takes one glance over at the equally sullen Cody to set him off again.  While they’ve all been used to Leia’s independence, Cody has been at Luke’s side as long as Anakin; he worries after the boy terribly.  It takes some time, but the two of them support each other until they’re at a level of stability that Luke would be proud of.  Rex prods them into doing _something_ with their time, if only to have something exciting to show the twins the next time they see them (whenever that may be).  

They must do something more than _watch_ , watch on the holonet as Obi-Wan and Luke recreate the Jedi order, watch as Jedi trickle in from the dusty corners of the galaxy to come and help, watch as Leia and her army gain respect and power.  They are still all in contact via their comms, but it’s not as frequent as any of them would like.  Anakin feels the loss of Obi-Wan almost as strongly as that of his children.  But no one on the _Darklight_ even thinks about suggesting that they visit the new Jedi compound.  Anakin and Ahsoka are not Jedi. 

That does not mean that they do not have a moral compass pointing them in the right direction.

Anakin is still keeping an eye on Jabba, and then he turns to Zygerria.  Zygerria is no Tatooine.  Both planets have long, long histories of empires built on slavery, but Zygerria, oh, Zygerria _thrives_ on its slave trade.  The masters of this planet have industrialized slavery in a way that the Hutts have not in a very long time.  So Anakin and Ahsoka plot with the clones, setting up complex missions to undermine the entire planet and its system’s economy.  (It helps that Anakin can put on his Sith face quite easily.)  Slavery has not ended, and yet Anakin feels like progress is being made so that no other child has to be raised as the property of another being.

Luke is eleven years old and just elated to be a part of the reborn Jedi Order.  Obi-Wan is a brilliant master, collaborating with Luke while still being a mentor.  The Republic wants them to begin right away, so the first order of business is to terraform an island as large as the former temple.  The Great Western Sea is unlike any other body of water that Luke has seen; its shores are lined with hundreds of stories of urban build-up.  They choose a location far enough into the water that the skyscrapers are mere smudges on the horizon.  Building goes quickly, since the Senate seems to feel a sense of guilt for the former emperor’s genocidal decree.  Thousands and thousands of construction workers and architects and biological engineers are present each day and within six months of the initiation of the project, an archipelago has been created, sturdy enough that half of it has been dug up again to make room for an underground labyrinth of training rooms and offices and fountain rooms and a library that Obi-Wan cannot _wait_ to fill.

The work goes by even more quickly once Vos and Jarrus join them, each with a padawan in tow.  Even Yoda comes back from whichever hole in the ground he has been living in for the past eleven years.  Yoda does not trust Luke; he knows he’s being lied to, and the fact that Luke has “Skywalker” attached to the end of his name doesn’t help.  Other than the crew (both former and current) of _Darklight_ , Chancellor Mothma, and Leia’s parents, Yoda is the only other being who knows that Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader were one and the same, at least for a while.  Neither Obi-Wan nor Luke tell the five other Jedi that Anakin is alive.  Luke is reassured by Leia’s Force-touch of approval.  He knows that she will not be sharing that tidbit of information with the Alderaanians or any politicians at any level.  Luke loves what they are doing, but both he and Obi-Wan mope in privacy about his Dad; just like the current _Darklight_ crew, they’re used to Leia flitting in and out of their lives (and it _is_ comforting to feel such a strong Force connection with her while she is on-planet).  The young Skywalker can feel his master’s tenseness at being away from both Rex and Senator Organa as well and it worries him until Obi-Wan wraps him in a hug and thanks him for being there with him.  So he pushes aside his longing for his dad and stays strong for Obi-Wan.

Luke and Leia are eleven years old and their lives have changed more jarringly than in a long time.  They mark this transition into a new stage of life with an alteration in hairstyle to better reflect who they want to be; Leia takes her looped braids out and rewinds her hair into traditional Alderaanian buns covering each ear.  (She loves that it is a hairstyle shared by Nubian royalty, including her birth mother.)  Luke puts his waist-long golden locks into one thick braid down his back, with the exception of a thin padawan braid that hangs below his ear.  He wants to be a true Jedi, so with a deep breath, asks his master to chop his hair into short spikes.  He places the thick braid into a box to give to his father later, reminiscent of how he will one day give his padawan braid to his master.  The giving of a braid signifies a deep respect and he wants Dad to _know_ how much he loves him for giving him the childhood he did. 

Along with Leia, he is transformed.


	8. Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhh sorry that this is so late! A few notes!  
> I've moved the rating back down to M, because let's be real; this isn't smut by a long shot.  
> This chapter is also a bit different, much more Anakin-based. It's the twins' "five year gap" as GRRM likes to put it, so they're focused on training. (Anakin still has a lot of shit to deal with.)  
> ALSO IMPORTANT: go watch Ewan McGregor on the Graham Norton Show from July 1, 2011, and focus on his hair as you read this chapter, especially the end. Also, his scruffy little sorta-beard from April 8, 2016.  
> I know that a lot of characters that we know and love are still missing, but they're coming. I'm trying not to shove them all back into the story at once.  
> I swear that I sorta have a mental timeline for this, but it stuff starts to not make sense, especially now that chapters take place every two years, PLEASE let me know. Thanks!

Luke and Leia are thirteen years old and Anakin has not see either of them in almost a year.  He knows objectively that his children are busy learning how to protect the galaxy in their own ways, but Obi-Wan turned fifty ages ago, and now that his fifty-first approaches, Anakin doubts that a similar celebration will be held.  Other than a few brief visits last year, he's had to do with watching the twins on the HoloNet.  It's not nearly enough and he aches _so_ hard for his babies. He's not exactly been quiet himself. Zygerria has been an ordeal that has still not been dealt with, especially not with the breaks he's taken to zip back to Tatooine.  His mood sours easily now, so the crew of _Darklight_ has been encouraging him to keep busy.  They strongly hint that he should get himself out into the universe and fuck every being that may cheer him up; he tries to get close to some of the clones (knowing that it's just a bad idea to do _that_ again with Ahsoka), and he has some fun with Jesse, but it just reminds Anakin of Leia's comments and it ends rather quickly.  The galaxy rapidly shows Anakin that he's had relatively few partners in his life; before, before it all, he'd fooled around with other padawans as a teenager and then once he and Padmé married, he'd slept with Obi-Wan a grand total of six times after particularly heart- and gut-wrenching missions (especially post-Hardeen ordeal).  He's reaching out now though.   
  
It doesn't assuage all of the concerns of Anakin's crew. In his quest for the eradication of slavery, he's slipped into a more grey perspective of the Force and he needs Luke to be here to help him keep his head straight.  When he comes across a child sex slavery ring, he slaughters all of the slavers without a bit of remorse and then worries if he should feel any. The crew assure him that he was entirely in the right, but whisper in the corners of the light freighter about what it is doing to him. (Anakin can hear them and it frustrates him even more.)  
  
Leia is thirteen years old and worrying about her dad too. Though his muted Force signature is usually all the way across the galaxy, she can still feel flashes of anger and hatred. She tries her best to send soothing energy his way and doesn't know if it will be enough.  She is also worried for her father. The end of Chancellor Mothma's leadership is fast approaching this year and Bail is almost a shoe-in for her successor.  While Bail's political power already attracts enemies to Alderaan, his appointment of this position would increase it incredibly.  Besides, until he is in that seat, nothing is certain.  It helps that the usually politically-uninvolved Jedi are firm in their suggestions for his promotion.   
  
It works. Bail is elected Supreme Chancellor Organa.  Some of the more exuberant Alderaanians push for Leia to be his replacement as senator, but she knows that her temperament still needs much improvement.  As they keep trying to give Leia more power, she concedes one point. It is with this mindset that, a month into Bail's position, Queen Breha makes the announcement that Leia's birth parents are Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.  The galaxy explodes with support and love and the twins become the darlings of everyone's hearts. Still, Breha, Bail, Yoda, and Mon are the only non-former _Darklight_ ers to know that Anakin used to be Vader. None of the four know that he is alive.  Anakin toys with the idea of revealing himself, but ultimately decides not to. All it would take would be one of those four deciding to reveal him as Vader and his babies would be without a dad.   
  
Anakin is in a funk for a long while, until he and Ahsoka are in the midst of freeing some Togrutan slaves and she runs into an old friend of hers. Anakin is anonymously pleasant towards Snips' one-time saviour, until he sees the Wookiee's gorgeous young friend. It turns out that twenty-three year old Han Solo newly owns an almost identical light freighter and he claims that it is the fastest in the galaxy. Anakin's eyes light up in challenge and the two of them spend several weeks racing each other along skyways and among clouds and through asteroid fields until they decide on a draw via sex. A lot of sex. They combine their slave-freeing forces and suddenly, Anakin is a commodore. His fleet is tiny, consisting only of the two freighters, but he has grand plans of expanding. (Perhaps Rex, Cody, and Ahsoka can be captains next, with Kix, Jesse, and Echo as their co-captains; Anakin only wants Luke at his side.) These plans only last a few months, until Han decides that he wants out of their make-shift relationship and splits.  He misses the freedom of the two-man show he and Chewie used to have. Chewbacca gives Anakin a pat on the shoulder before hugging Ahsoka and leaving.  Anakin does not care enough to cry, but he does spar with the crew quite a bit over the next few days.  Cody, Rex, and Ahsoka take turns leading their small crew more often than not as Anakin then turns to a furious rampage against slavers. He is more determined than ever to hunt them all down.  And he's _terrified_. He knows he's treading a dangerous path, but can't stop himself.   
  
One day, someone else stops him instead.   
  
When trying to blow up a slavers' den on Ryloth, Anakin is so focused that he misses Republican forces running their own rescue mission and is knocked out by a massive subsonic pulse.  Of course, this had to have been the mission that he assigned to only himself, leaving the rest of his crew in a bar on the other side of the planet.   
  
When Anakin Skywalker wakes up, his hands are bound in Force-dampening cuffs and he is in an ornate state room that feels familiar, that he should know, but can't. _Oh_ , the silence is deafening. He feels so disconnected from the Force, Sith, he can't even feel the Force, let alone his connections to Ahsoka, Obi-Wan, Leia, and Luke. He's not yet grasped where he is when the door opens and in walks Chancellor Organa.   
  
_Fuck._  
  
Suddenly Anakin is alert and yet acting docile, thanking the Force that he still has the scarf hiding half of his face; the hood covers the rest.  When Bail begins to talk, Anakin internally sighs in relief. It appears that they saw his sabers and assumed that he was simply a former Jedi too skeptical of the new system to come out of hiding. It was just coincidental that the Chancellor's inaugural tour of the galaxy came across the same slave ring that Anakin did.  At first, the Chancellor is respectful of the scarf and is content with Anakin nodding or shaking his head at questions. But even Bail Organa's patience can run thin and as soon as it does,  he's pointed a blaster at Anakin's uncovered face, his own a deathly grey.  He backs out  of the room, barrel of the blaster still steady on Anakin, to tell his guards to cut the security cameras out of honour for the Jedi's identity. When he re-enters the room (which, Anakin now realizes with an ironic amusement, used to be his own quarters on this Star Destroyer), the blaster is trained back on Anakin and the questions begin.  While he's in quite good shape, Anakin knows that without the Force, he does not have enough of a chance of dodging a close-range shot like this.  So he sits and tries to convince the Chancellor that he's turned away from the Dark Side and that he just wants a quiet life, but Bail does not believe him.  Luckily for Anakin, Bail knows that the beings on his ship are curious about the potential Jedi, so he cannot outright kill him in cold blood. (Anakin isn't sure if he's enough of a catalyst to shift Bail's famously honourable morals.)  Eventually, Bail turns his stony face away and tells Anakin that he alone does not have the right to decide his future. He binds Anakin to a chair and leaves the room. He returns only to drop a pile of ration bars within his prisoner's reach and inform him that he will have 'fresher privileges twice a day and then Anakin does not see him for several days, but for when he comes to personally escort Anakin to relieve himself in the next room over.   
  
Anakin is half-mad after being disconnected from the Force for so long, and so when Bail comes to his room and throws a musty bag over his head, he does not even react, not until he is told that his jury is here.   
  
Luke is thirteen years old and a bound, anonymous man is the last thing he expects to be the prompt of the new chancellor's summons. It's positively bizarre how the stranger does not even give off the slightest Force signature. Luke is vaguely aware of his master's subtle stiffening in horror, and so tries to delve deeper, focusing in on a pair of cuffs holding the stranger's hands together. While he would normally trust Leia's father, who has been nothing but kind to him, Obi-Wan's reaction has him on guard for the auburn-haired man's reaction. Bail moves forward sharply as Obi-Wan abruptly ignites and brings down his saber to free the man and _oh_ , the twins and the Jedi master send a massive surge of Force love and healing to Anakin, who soaks it all up deliriously.

Anakin is giddy at being connected to the universe again and he almost spills into laughter, knowing that Bail has inadvertently brought his saviours to be his judge, jury, and executioner (he assumes). He can barely bite back his glee as he hears Bail snap at Obi-Wan for reopening his connection to the Force. Though his eyes are still covered, Anakin can feel where the blaster points; he can feel his twins' caution at their next steps; he can feel Obi-Wan trying to keep him calm. _Oh_ and the Force feels intoxicating as it re-enters every part of Anakin, twisting and twining as it rushes to fill the void that has plagued him for several days. He barely hears Bail's warning to the other three about whose face is hidden under the bag; he's so focused on his exhilaration. A mental flick from Obi-Wan brings him back to his surroundings, a split second before he's blinded by the light suddenly surrounding him. As he blinks away the stars behind his eyes, he sees his children, Obi-Wan, and the chancellor all staring at him, lightsabers and blasters drawn. And pointing at him. His family is sending him apologies through their bonds, but it's still disconcerting to see their cold faces and threatening postures. And they look so different. Both children have grown; Luke's padawan braid is well past his shoulders and Leia, oh Leia carries herself so _maturely_. Anakin swallows proudly at how she looks so, so much like Padmé did when they first met. Obi-Wan has changed too, his beard trimmed closer to his jawline and his hair swooped up off his face and above his head. It's a new look for the man, one Anakin appreciates more than he'd expect (which is _definitely_ not a path he wants his thoughts to go down, at least not right now).

The four Force-sensitive inhabitants of the room are furiously planning out their next manoeuver via mental connection when Bail breaks the silence, asking Luke and Leia if they have anything to ask their birth father. Luke, sweet Luke, ignores the yelps of the others and launches forward to wrap Anakin in a tight hug. Bail gapes in horror as Leia sighs and then joins them. (Obi-Wan is resting his forehead in his left hand, gently rubbing at his temples.)

Bail's floundering is the theme for the evening, as arguing back and forth results in quite a few changes. Anakin is to be declared alive, having apparently spent the past thirteen years in an Imperial prison, forgotten by almost everyone. He had escaped and has been trying to get to Coruscant to find his children. Bail will convince Breha and Mon that this is for the best, while Obi-Wan will do the same to Yoda (though neither think that this will work.) Anakin is to continue his foray into the eradication of slavery in the galaxy and will _not_ be rejoining the Jedi. However, should he wish to visit Coruscant or any other populated area, he may do so openly, without fear of retribution. (Bail is _sure_ that this is going to come back to bite him in the ass.) Luke's and Leia's begging helps to convince the chancellor of this path, not to mention the media and political shitstorm that would occur if Anakin Skywalker were to be publicly revealed as Vader. (Sidious' death is an added bonus for Anakin's case.)

Anakin sends a quick mental note to Ahsoka to inform their team that he's safe after days of silence, then settles in with his children to hear their stories of what's happened since they've last spent time together.

Obi-Wan is not so lucky. Bail raises an eyebrow at his old friend and they walk into an adjoined room. As soon as the door shuts, Bail turns to Obi-Wan and coolly demands why he is the last to know.

“Plausible deniability. With your career, we did not want you to have to lie...” he trails off awkwardly, guiltily.

Bail fixes Obi-Wan with a cold stare, asking who "we" is. When Obi-Wan answers with the names of the crew of _Darklight_ , Bail winces with the betrayal of people he's considered his friends. He just can't understand how they can love the man who killed children, who killed Padmé, who destroyed the Republic. But he supposes that he can never understand the love Obi-Wan holds for Anakin, can never understand why he could not kill him on Mustafar.

For six months, Anakin spends an unofficial probationary period at the growing Jedi temple on Coruscant. He is _not_ a Jedi, but is perfectly happy using his incredible skills with the Force and mechanics to create, modify, and perfect the technology on the archipelago. He loves working as part of a much larger system again, with hydrologists and plumbers and designers and engineers. And his heart sings, _sings_ with the joy of having his children so near again. It feels like old times, with Luke at his side and Leia only a comm away. He watches his daughter continue to forge alliances for Alderaan as Bail takes charge of the galaxy. Anakin stays away from Yoda as much as possible, through the tiny gremlin is dogged in his shadowing of his great-great-grand-padawan's movements through the temple. He heals; the darkness bleeds from his soul and dissipates as it once did before, when Luke spent his days holding Anakin's hand and falling asleep perched in his dad's arms. After Luke, his greatest source of peace comes from Obi-Wan.

Anakin has never been one for meditation, so when his former master suggests that this is the key to keeping himself from sinking back into darkness, he groans. But Obi-Wan is taking time out of training Luke and leading the Jedi to help him (which he's _still_ not sure if he deserves), so he acquiesces. As he discovers, the type of meditation they are using is shared; they use their Force bond to disintegrate Anakin's constant thirst for power, even though he wants power solely to protect the ones he loves (as he failed with Shmi and Padmé) and to destroy the slavery-based system that created him. With nothing hidden away during these sessions, Obi-Wan can feel everything that Anakin can, with vivid imagery. He gives Anakin confidence in his children's skills, and his own, and Ahsoka's. Anakin has so, so, _so_ many burdens to unload and Obi-Wan gently takes them off of his shoulders. He shares his former padawan's tears and holds him after each session. These hugs are instrumental to Anakin's mending, and it's the most natural progression for them to turn into kisses. The kisses are different from the ones shared during the Clone Wars in moments of reassurance after terrifying encounters; those had been hard presses of lips together, comforting the other that they were both alive and well.

Now, they're still soothing, but it's like returning to something long, long missed, with a tinge of joy that turns into playfulness and mischief as time passes. The kisses migrate from Anakin's private room to just about any hidden corner. Luke catches them once and pouts at them for acting more like young padawans than him. And so they move back to the shadows, increasing in heat, where Anakin discovers just how _masterful_ Obi-Wan can be.

Obi-Wan is now fifty-one and Anakin is thirty-five, mere children in the eyes of the galaxy, but they've begun to create the basis for a new code, a better code.

“ _Emotion does not preclude Peace._

_Knowledge does not preclude Ignorance._

_Passion balances Serenity._

_Harmony balances Chaos._

_Death is the Force._

_The Force is Freedom.”_

 


	9. Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Luke and Leia will not have sex scenes until they are 18+. I'm fully aware that teens have sex, but as a 23 year old, I do not at all feel comfortable writing them.
> 
> Btw, when I make references to pop culture, do you guys notice them?

Leia is fifteen years old when she realizes that she's lacking experience in certain aspects of her life. Life on Coruscant is metropolitan, to say the least, but she is surrounded by adults most of the time. It's not like she has many other beings her own age near here. She's intensely curious about the world of boys and kissing and the like, but she knows, she _knows_ that her future political opponents will use her youthful dalliances against her, and so she goes to Luke for help and advice.

Luke is fifteen years old and _loves_ boys and kissing. So, when a very stressed-out Leia pleads for his help, he asks Obi-Wan for leave for a few days to visit his sister on the other side of the planet. (Master and padawan share a room; Luke figures that Obi-Wan will take advantage of his missing apprentice to have Anakin over for that time.) The twins are as close as ever, Luke staying on as Leia's guest in her royal chambers, spending the nights telling her all about the other padawans he's been kissing; he's been lucky that there are so many idealistic padawans eager to rebuild their ancient order. Leia takes in all of his tips on flirting and kissing, and with a grateful hug, sends him back to the temple. Anakin is unexpectedly still there and unexpectedly half-dressed, so when Luke's master asks where he's been, he mumbles something about Leia and kissing and flees to a training room to burn the image he's just seen out of his mind. Parents are _not_ supposed to kiss like that.

Anakin jumps to conclusions and panics, almost sobbing into Obi-Wan's arms at the idea of his children being in love with each other. His former master is not nearly as worried as Anakin would like him to be, so he storms out semi-seriously to find someone who'll listen to his wails and join in. (He does scoot back into the room to give his partner a long good-bye kiss.) He's about to search for a ship he can hitch a ride on to Honoghr to rejoin his slavery-destroying crew in the Outer Rim when he receives a comm from, from Queen Breha Organa? And so his journey is much shorter than planned, just a quick hop to the core world of Alderaan.

Queen Breha Organa has a population of two billion humans to care for and lead, not to mention a thriving biosphere. Her path has never crossed with Padawan/Knight/General Skywalker's, nor did it ever with Darth Vader's. When Anakin's shuttle touches down, he makes a mental note to meditate and project a message to Ahsoka through the Force to Honoghr; he needs her to rescue him now. But dinner with Breha is quite different from interrogation with Bail. There's no jealousy over who is the greatest object of Obi-Wan's affections. There's no jealousy over who is Leia's strongest father figure. (Though of course, if asked, she would probably raise an eyebrow at Bail or Anakin and choose Obi-Wan, her first and only master, just to further the argument.) It seems like a bizarre dream, one where they chuckle about Luke's former crush on Rex and where they take serious note of potential uses for Leia's army. The army is currently stationed on Alderaan, so Anakin spends a few weeks getting to know Leia's special forces and grinning giddily when he recognizes her implementation of his military lessons. Spending time with Breha is soothing in an altogether new way; Anakin fucked up as Vader, but the it's evident that the galaxy has moved on, as it always does.

It's when the queen asks Anakin to be honest about his greatest fear (and he tells her of his concerns that his twins are in love) that the best part of his visit happens. He prepares to leave to go and find his crew and Breha brings out someone who was once Anakin's greatest partner in the air. She seems to think that he's worthy enough to be reunited with his astromech, but the droid in question definitely does not. One would assume that five years of the Emperor using Force lightning to punish Vader would reduce its efficacy, and yet, R2-D2's electrical shocks hurt most of all. Anakin explains his current life choices through pained yelps and it seems to work; he can't help but feel that Artoo is giving him the same shady side-eye that Yoda does when he visits Coruscant.

A motherly hug later and Anakin is back off into space, zipping along until he's back on _Darklight_. Cody especially is eager for updates on Luke, as are Ahsoka and Rex for news of Leia. Somehow, Anakin's family has become scattered across the galaxy with only occasional check-ins for reinforcing of their familial bonds. But his children are busy, so Anakin takes the time to take down some slaver rings, cuddle and gossip with Ahsoka, and make mad plans for future missions with Rex.

Anakin is with _Darklight_ for perhaps three months total this time. Ahsoka is the one to suggest they stop in on Coruscant; she has contacts that would be powerful political allies for Leia. It's true that Senator Chuchi and Leia get along famously, but when Anakin sees dark brown hickies under Ahsoka's collar, he groans at how he didn't see it before. At least his former padawan is sheepish when she's trying to convince him that she's keeping up the tradition of dalliance between senators and (current or former) Jedi. He takes advantage of being back on the core world to refamiliarize himself with Obi-Wan's body. The moans that he can drag out of that man...Anakin still struggles with the Jedi way; he is not a Jedi, but he is also explicitly not a Sith. And yet, there is a belief system he follows. He lives for the curling of Obi-Wan's toes as Anakin's tongue circles his navel. He prays to the Force that his partner will tug his hair as Obi-Wan fucks him against a wall. His mantra is one of love, the sheer, selfishly pure love that he holds for the man. Anakin knows surety not of the Light or the Dark, but that Obi-Wan loves him and only him, and that Rex and Bail and Jesse and Han are people of the past. Every so often, he wonders what Padmé would think of his taking up with a new life partner and yet he knows in the core of his heart that his angel would want him to be happy. Padmé, like Anakin, had so much more love for their unborn child(ren) and so he knows, he knows that all of her focus would be on Leia and Luke.

Luke is fifteen years old when he shyly approaches Leia and asks for her makeup advice in return for helping her find someone to kiss. Leia chooses a dark pink for her lips and Luke a clear gloss; his lashes receive a coat of mascara and her eyes are ringed with kohl. Anakin sends a silent prayer up to Padmé's soul that she never sees this. Their children both prefer function over style, and while they are never quite dressed in motley, Anakin sees no capes or hoods or elaborately painted faces on the twins. His wife would stay composed while inwardly screaming at their inexperience. But they're young, so he kisses their heads and smiles at their attempts. It's better that they're repelling potential sexual partners. Anakin is in _no_ way ready for that.

It's getting a bit harder to kiss the top of Luke's head. While Anakin was off-planet, his son apparently decided to hit puberty and grow six inches. The fifteen year old will never be as tall as him, he can tell, and yet there is now a gap of almost a hand's length between his height and Leia's. His voice is deeper too, completely at odds with the innocent quality that it can't manage to shake off. While Leia was a general at age eight, the sheer goodness that Luke emits gives the impression that he is younger and more innocent than he actually is.

Luke is fifteen years old and fully aware of his aura. He's not cocky, but definitely uses it to his advantage to get older padawans to make out with him. There's this seventeen year old boy Twi'lek boy who uses his lekku just as much as his hands to try and _introduce_ Luke to the more sensual sides of life. And then there's this eighteen year old human boy with deep brown skin and shiny black hair down to his waist who convinces Luke that he should grow out his hair the same way again. Obi-Wan says nothing, other than to remind him to keep at least a thin braid out to display his padawan status (which of course he'd never forget to do). Luke's braids his hair back up into his favourite crowning style, which he then discovers a seventeen year old Zabrak youth loves to run his fingers through until it is undone. And Leia?

Leia is fifteen years old and sulky at how boys her age seem intimidated by her. They just seem so _young_ and she's absolutely not going to change who she is for some laser-brained son of a senator. She sulks and she waits and she sulks and she waits. There's a pretty soldier in Senator Mothma's service named Jyn, but when Leia kisses her, she is overwhelmed by her guilt of lying about her age that she barely makes it two seconds in before she's panicking and sputtering out apologies. Besides, while Leia's brain seems to see girls as a more sensible option for dating, her heart and her lips and her hands are craving masculinity. (Jyn thanks her for her honesty and then asks Leia if her friend, Ahsoka, is single. Leia, almost wickedly, says to ask Senator Chuchi.) But boys are such wimpy nerf-herders that there's no one she can think of as a suitable kissing partner. When Luke suggests she visits the Jedi temple, she gives him a Look. She has her whole life ahead of her and she will not risk a scandal.

Besides, Mon Mothma has taken her under her wing. Senator Mothma, former chancellor of the Republic, seems to see herself in Leia and pushes, pushes the teen to increase her presence in the senate. She is too young to become a senator herself, but the senate seems to look to the princess for input just as much as they do the proper senator of Alderaan. They must be careful though and not make it seem like Chancellor Organa has an elite inner circle. Both he and Mon ran on platforms of democracy and transparency, and so they must uphold these promises. And yet Leia is welcomed into their fold; the galaxy keeps a wary distance from the necessary banking clans, so the guiding forces of authority are the Senate and the Jedi. Under normal circumstances, the semi-nepotism would be ripped apart, but the collapse of the republic has led to a galaxy craving leadership by the Negotiator, the leaders of the former rebellion, and the children of the Hero With No Fear, never mind that they are all quite close to one another. The twins have also garnered the immense loyalty of the surviving clones, and Leia works her diplomatic skills to reach out to other reasonable members of the Senate.

Luke and Leia are fifteen years old and incredibly busy. While Leia plays politics, Luke is the most experienced padawan at the temple, not to mention that his master is the head of the entire order. Sometimes though, their father drags them off of Coruscant for a weekend on their family ship. They all live for times like these; Leia is meant to be a politician and Luke is the most Force-attuned Jedi after Obi-Wan, but they are only fifteen and miss their father. Luke teaches Leia how to pilot the _Darklight_ while Anakin sits between them and listens to them speak of their passions. He sits and listens and offers encouragement, all while brushing out and braiding their hair into intricate styles. They're much too old to fall asleep in his arms, so sometimes they pass out on couches, cheeks flushed just enough for Anakin to pretend that they're small children again, dazed from an afternoon nap.

Cody and Ahsoka and Rex spend time with them as much as possible too; when Leia is on Coruscant, Obi-Wan makes as many excuses as possible to visit the Rotunda to check up on his former apprentice. Breha calls Leia from Alderaan and Echo and Kix and Jesse pop up in the background of _Darklight_ calls to the Jedi temple. And yet when Anakin has his twins with him, the rest not dare disturb the unbreakable bond that they have.

Luke and Leia are fifteen years old and, contrary to most their age, put a grand importance on maintaining frequent and open communication with each other and their Dad.


	10. Seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's getting an update only a week later?! I basically had a few hours on a red-eye flight and so frantically typed this up on my phone before I lost my vibe. I am back home and so have edited Fifteen to have proper formatting, but please let me know if anything is missing.
> 
> How is the flow? Because I'm writing them individually, it's hard for me to see the chapters and flowing and leading in to one another, so what do you think? Are they cohesive?

Luke is seventeen years old when his master takes another padawan.  It's long past time that he does; the few other Jedi Knights and Masters have at least five padawans each. Obi-Wan has been able to use the excuse of his leadership of the Order, but Luke is the most independent of the apprentices, almost a proper knight himself.  It _hurts_ , far more than he'd expect, despite his common sense's reasoning with him.  For all that it's worth, Obi-Wan dwells on the issue at hand much longer than he needs to, assuring and reassuring Luke that he is incredibly proud of the young man and loves him to bits.  It's only because Luke is such a leader amongst the padawans that Obi-Wan feels remotely comfortable with this.

He hadn't always been planning to take on another apprentice, but a youth just a year younger than Luke appeared at the temple recently and Obi-Wan knows that he must be the one to take him in.  His mother is officially unknown, and yet when the head of the Order notes in his slanted eyes and elfin features, he worries for the dark-skinned boy's future.  He reminds him just enough of Anakin that Obi-Wan is concerned.  However, Anakin was not even raised by an ex-Sith mother, nor did he ever crave the stability of the temple life.  Quinlan Vos and Asajj Ventress' son is an enigma to his new master who swears that he will not let down another padawan.   

And so, as his master focuses his attention on young Padawan Vos, Luke takes on more roles as a guide to the children who come to Coruscant.  Yoda is the crêchemaster, but Luke can be found with the younglings just as much as the former head of the order.  And yet, he craves his former lifestyle.  He yearns for the stars and flying.  He misses his sister and his dad and Cody and Ahsoka and all of the rest. He itches for the freedom of the _Darklight_.  Luke takes his desires and transforms them into an exploration of the Jedi ways.  For months and months, he leads the transportation of sensitive Jedi books and holos and flimsiplasts and even holocrons from the previous temple to the current.  (It is a sure sign of Obi-Wan's trust in Luke's abilities that he lets the youth even near 'his' precious books.)  There is even a massive, massive stash of Sith artifacts deep in the former mountain of a temple that he, Obi-Wan, Yoda, and a visiting Dad transport over for the duration of the month before Luke's birthday.  (Vos spends the time learning the ways of the Jedi, both by Obi-Wan in his spare time and by the other Jedi instructors.)  By the time all of the materials have found niches in their new home, Luke has had enough.  The Sith artifacts have gotten under all of their skin and they've all been quite snappish with each other.  Anakin flies off to duel out his energy with Ahsoka; Yoda and Obi-Wan meditate in solitude; and Luke begs, he begs Leia for help. 

Leia is seventeen years old, just a week short of eighteen, and she too has had enough.  As she's almost of human majority in the galaxy, her people have been pushing and rallying and even outright begging her to run for senator when she turns nineteen and the senatorial elections will occur.  There's absolutely nothing wrong with their current representative and Leia is loathe to take up the role simply because she is a princess with the chancellor for her father.  If she can't even sort out the numerous planets and systems that want to be preferred allies with Alderaan, what place does she have in the Senate?  And _Force_ , she misses Dad and Luke and Ahsoka and Rex and all the rest.  So when Luke--thank the Force for Luke--sends her a message through their bond, they act in tandem. 

Luke and Leia are seventeen years old and up to no good.  They leave notes on their pillows saying that they'll be back on their birthday; they pinch their Force connections to their dad and Obi-Wan and Ahsoka so that they'll know the twins are alive, but nothing more; they pick their most nondescript clothing and weapons, with just a handful of credits.  And they go down, down, down into the Undercity where no one can find them.

The first thing they do is scope out a skeezy bar.  While their sabers are hidden, their blasters are on full display, as are the bulges in their tunics and leggings that imply the presence of vibroblades.  Their boots are sturdy and filthy and their faces are half-covered with ratty scarves, akin to Anakin's former disguise.  Leia and Luke have been living posh lives for the past few years but they were raised on starships, fed by food from all sorts of planets, trained to be lethal if necessary.  They sidle up to the bar, smooth as if they've been doing this for years, and order a couple of Corellian whiskies.  High on their freedom, they pay and then chug, probably not the best idea with such a smooth liquor.  They giggle together until a burly red Twi'lek decides to take advantage of their obvious youth and presses himself between the two at the bar, his right hand coming around Luke's shoulders to stroke his face, his left around Leia's to stroke her breast. Within a split second, he lies curled up on the sticky floor of the bar with identical blaster shots to the groin.  The other patrons of the bar roar with laughter as the twins stand up and leave.  They have a better luck with the next bar, an ostensible common watering hole for smugglers.  An apparently more honourable bunch, a motley crew of beings who must be no older than the twins invites them to join their table.  Leia and Luke hold off on too many more drinks, and _yet_ soon Luke is in the lap of a much sweeter Twi'lek, this time one who is perfectly respectful of the boundaries that Luke himself is now so eager to break.

The next few days pass much in the same manner. Leia rolls her eyes at Luke's hunger for sex, especially since it seems to get them a place to stay each night.  (She once compares it to prostitution and Luke rolls around laughing on the grimy floor of the inn room they're sharing for one particular night.)  As much as Luke spends his time flirting, Leia spends her time fighting. Father would be absolutely horrified, but she's discovered fight clubs and the joy of betting.  Anakin's little deal with Jabba and the Darklight's trips to Tatooine have trained her well, as has Echo.  She enters the ring with a pair of vibroblades and becomes masterful at hiding her instinctive use of the Force.  Besides, too much of it would be cheating, right?  Her diminutive nature continues to fool the crowds and her opponents and soon she's amassed thousands of credits.  Luke is so proud of his sister, _far_ more than a peace-loving Jedi should be.

Leia is seventeen years old and cannot understand Luke's obsession with sex.  Fighting is such a rush, especially when she is against boys her age. It's just so... _satisfying_ to see them rage about being beaten by a girl.  One night, just two nights before their birthday, Luke flees to fuck an audience member in a dirty alley and leaves Leia alone in an equally filthy passage.  She can protect herself, of course, but that does not stop her from getting into an argument with someone's who's followed her.  She had just beaten him soundly in the ring, and (she blinks as he wipes the grime from his face) he's just a boy, probably the same age as her.  And he had wanted to win and _hates_ her for stealing the winning pot from under his nose.  Leia has no need for the credits and knows that she'll eventually give them to him, but oh, it's _so_ much fun to argue!  She's got a wicked tongue and years of experience winning debates.  They verbally lash at each other and start shoving each other around, Leia grinning under her scarf at the energy  being tossed back and forth.  

Leia is seventeen years old and has never properly kissed someone, and then she suddenly does.  The anonymous boy is pinned under her, and she can feel his body beneath hers.  They're nose to nose in anger and then bridge the gap with a hot-- _so hot_ \-- open-mouthed kiss, groping at each other eagerly.  And Leia understands, she _finally_ understands the carnal pleasure that Luke is oh-so-gleeful about. She doesn't have sex that night, but comes damn near close, both she and the boy feeling utterly spent, him left in the alley with a bag of credits tucked into his pocket. 

" _Fuck_. Am _I_ now a prostitute?"

Luke finds it utterly hilarious and appropriate that she gets turned on by fighting.  Leia is a bit mortified, but eager to explore this new world of pleasure.  For some people, masturbation is enough, but _definitely_ not for her.

They spend their last night in the Undercity in a night market (not that time of day is clearly evident this far down), using the rest of Leia's winnings to buy weapons and clothing and ship parts, haggled down to the lowest price just for the fun of it.  Leia ends up buying more weapons and vests, holsters and tight pants. Luke discovers crop tops and stuffs his bag with ten different variations of what looks to Leia to be the same shirt.  (He's got another bag of greasy odds and ends that will somehow find their way into the workings of Darklight at some time.)

Luke is now eighteen years old and in some deep shit.  Leia accompanies him to the temple to drop him off on their birthday and Obi-Wan is furious.  Anakin stands beside him and so does (Luke and Leia share an internal smirk) Padawan Vos.  Without a word, they turn and silently lead the twins to Obi-Wan and Luke's room.  Their dad and master both ream them out, explicit in their anger and disappointment.  (Leia groans at the thought of going through the same confrontation up in her father's rooms.)  With a tight hug and birthday wish to Leia, Luke is off to meditate on his favourite sand-less shore.  Leia grimaces at the uncomfortable end to their week of debauchery and drunkenness, and strides off to the temple's port to find a shuttle across the planet to her royal chambers.  But peace is not her destiny tonight; Vos is matching her pace along beside her, harassing her with questions.  How could Luke betray Obi-Wan like that? What do you mean it's not betrayal?  She snaps back at him, frustrated at the turn of events.  He's so different from her; while they're both much more wild than they'd admit, Vos seems to plead for help from the System.  In contrast, Leia is already firmly entrenched in the System and struggling to maintain her identity as a Skywalker.  They trade barbs back and forth, him chipping away his carefully produced veneer of Jedi respectability. In retrospect, she supposed that it was inevitable.  As their anger builds, so does the spark between them.  It ignites and he pulls her into the stacks of the newly-filled library to press her against some file storage, simply ravaging her mouth. She's giving as good as she gets, her hands eagerly roaming his body.

Hours later, Leia finally catches her shuttle back home, realizing a bit too late that she's almost become a cliché. Luckily, she has no desire to create and/or maintain a relationship with Vos, à la the pairs of Skywalker/Amidala, Kenobi/Organa, and Tano/Chuchi. She's so smug at how she's spent her birthday morning that she forgets that she has another parent's anger to deal with; luckily for her, the chancellor has been so busy lately that despite his frustration, he enjoys the little bit of time he's been able to put aside to celebrate her birthday. Besides, he and Breha are more than used to Leia sneaking out. After their lengthy brunch together, the princess freshens up and records a small speech to send to Alderaan to acknowledge her greater role as an adult in the leadership of her planet. Then, she doesn't know what to do.

Luke is eighteen years old and sulking instead of meditating. It's his birthday! He wants to spend time with those he loves. He's so focused on his brooding that he doesn't notice Anakin until his dad in settling into place beside him.

“The temple can get pretty suffocating, can't it?”

Luke just scowls at him and they sit until he's processed his anger. Anakin understands his situation better than most, and so when father slings his arm around son's shoulders, Luke smiles and leans into it. As it often does, Anakin's high emotions fade and they shuttle off to snag Leia from the governmental housing towers. His babies are now adults by all reckoning of the galaxy, and he wants to spoil them. When Anakin bought their gift, Obi-Wan called it a piece of trash, but to the eyes of the two Skywalkers and one Organa, the light freighter is absolutely beautiful. Anakin never let up on his dream of being a commodore; his twins are the clear choice to co-captain the more casual ship of their mini-fleet. They fall over trying to hug Anakin more, until they realize that they can take her up _now_. She moves like a clanky old dream and Luke cannot wait to get his fingers filthy in her innards. Leia simply glows with happiness.

Leia and Luke are eighteen years old and no one understands them better than Dad. Obi-Wan comes pretty damn close, and Ahsoka, Rex, and Cody understand them each separately, but only Anakin _knows_ their souls. Anakin is the one who sees their gazes constantly turning to the skies. Anakin knows the frantic, burning itch they feel under their skin to simply escape the rigidity of what is deemed to be a productive lifestyle. He understands running and running and running until there's nothing left to do but collapse into the arms of the one(s) who ran along with you. Luke and Leia are growing up and Anakin can't always be there to protect them; it's with this thought that the three of them name the new ship _Angel_.


	11. Nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyy I'm back! Back into the routine of school starting tomorrow (Wednesday), turning 24 tomorrow, focusing on assignments instead of fic...
> 
> Don't worry. This won't be abandoned. Also, back when it was high-stress exam time, I wrote like a chapter every two days instead of once a month. I'm also concerned that I won't be able to wrap up the plot (what plot?!) points I want to in the next chapter, so I'm extending the fic from 12 chapters to 14.
> 
> Upcoming chapters will be 21, 24, and 30. Epilogues will come as well, but they'll be shorter and won't be a priority; I don't quite know how they'll work yet, perhaps just be added on if I'm in the mood to write for Five.

Luke and Leia are nineteen years old.  In an alternate universe (which some might say is the original one), a far more irate Leia would be shooting snappy barbs at General Tarkin. Her planet would be blown up by the Empire, prompting a galaxy-wide rebellion.  Luke and Han Solo and Chewie and Obi-Wan Kenobi would cross the galaxy to rescue her, only for Obi-Wan to be cut down by the monster formerly known as Anakin Skywalker.  Anakin would not be Anakin again for four more years, by which time it would be too late for his children to know him.

As it so happens, none of that comes to pass, and yet there are certain events that do, which cannot be ignored.  Leia is still a princess and newly-elected senator.  She is quite Force-sensitive, but with no desire to be a Jedi.  Her sharpness, however, is only outweighed by her protectiveness for her family, which includes so many more beings than it could have.  Luke is still learning to be a Jedi from Master Kenobi.  His smiles are still sunny with innocence, but here they come from being constantly loved, not from being a sheltered farm boy.  Their dad is still quick to anger and struggles with being separated from the ones he loves and yet, and  _ yet  _ Anakin is the most different of them all.

And he tries, he  _ tries  _ so hard to prove that he's changed from Darth Vader.  He vows to destroy the few remnants of the Emperor's web and, as one of the most capable pilots in the galaxy, leads a  _ Darklight  _ mission to the core world of Byss. Anakin remembers decade and a half-old rumours of Palpatine's  secret getaway planet; any trace of the Sith Lord will be destroyed.  Besides, Anakin could use a break from Coruscant.  As much as he loves Obi-Wan and Luke, their constant arguing is enough to drive him mad. And to make matters worse, they seem to expect him to take a side. Sure, Anakin knows that Luke's abilities are far beyond those of the other padawans, but he also agrees with Obi-Wan that their blond boy is not quite ready to be a Jedi knight. Luke's complaints of feeling stifled by planetary life ring a bit too true with the father, and so he's off for a three week mission.  Byss is technically close to Coruscant, but collapsed hyperspace lanes, Empire space mines, and gravity wells mean that the  _ Darklight  _ needs to make hundreds of tiny jumps. Sometimes, Anakin even needs to fly manually for hours, not even trusting the capabilities of his own ship. He loves it. 

Luke is nineteen years old and rebelling against his master.  He's  _ nineteen years old  _ for Force's sake! All of his solo missions have been on Coruscant; he only leaves the planet when with protective Obi-Wan and stupid Vos (about whom Luke still has to tamp down surges of jealousy).  It takes only a day after Anakin has left for Obi-Wan's temper to snap, rather unexpectedly for Luke.  The padawan feels a tad guilty at pushing his master so hard, especially when the man is worried about his partner's mission to Byss, but  _ Force _ ! Luke has a proper solo mission! He's positively gleeful to be borrowing one of the Order's ships to take down a smuggler chain. Well, technically, it's just a recon mission to figure out what exactly is being smuggled, but they're probably going to be easy to deal with on his own.  

They're not. 

They are so, so,  _ so  _ not and Luke learns first-hand what they are smuggling: sentient beings.  Fuuuuck.  This is an extremely well-prepared gang, one with an outpost on some unnamed Outer Rim planet and a Force-inhibiting collar perfect for an unconscious padawan who's just lost his saber into his ship's engine.  And for someone who's grown up seeing the horrors of slavery, Luke has never had to experience it for himself.  He's not too concerned for his own wellbeing, but he wants to cry; he wants to cry for all of those he thought that they had been saving through the Order and the Senate and even through Dad.  He wants to cry at his foolishness.  They  _ can't  _ simply end the sale of beings.  It has always existed and it always will and now it's simply been driven into hiding where no one will ever find Luke.  He's being kept in a tiny room, with chains wrapping his arms around his body.  He has no clue what's happening outside, since his collar has blocked him from everyone he loves.  Fuck, he feels so  _ alone  _ and the universe feels so quiet and empty, but all he can do is hope that he'll be sold to a new situation that is more easily escapable. His captors are taking no chances with him, wearing ear plugs (so that he may not convince them to free him) on their visits to shove ration bars in his mouth and to change the filthy pot under his chair.  He supposes that he's lucky that they are searching for the highest bidder, or so he assumes. 

(Across the galaxy, Leia and Obi-Wan panic. Anakin panics even more.  All they know is that the comforting hum of Luke's Force presence has been stamped out by an inhibitor, immediately after a moment of brief terror.)

Leia is nineteen years old and has only been senator for a few months when she feels the silencing of her bond with Luke, her twin, her other half.  And she's ever so grateful that she can holo-conference her way into any sessions of the senate as she tears off in  _ Angel  _ to search for Luke. To cross the galaxy, she'll need some help at the helm, and so makes a quick stop off on Alderaan to borrow her mother's favourite pilot, Evaan Verlaine.  The latest connection she had to Luke was in the Dantus Sector. She's sure he'll be long gone, but it's a start. 

And as quickly as Leia and Evaan fly out, the  _ Darklight  _ makes frantic hops to exit the Deep Core and Obi-Wan and Vos take off as well.  They're all headed in the same direction, but none of them will reach Luke. 

No, Luke is to be rescued by someone else, a two-being crew that had come in, blasters a-blazing, to drive out the slavers and set the slaves on their masters.  All of the other former slaves have set off on the ships of the slavers, headed home, but isolated Luke, poor lonely Luke who has not had proper interaction with anyone for at least a week, is almost forgotten.  Han and Chewie are doing a final sweep of the compound when they find a high-security cell tucked away from the rest.  And when the beautiful young man inside begs for a ride to Coruscant, Han has no choice but to agree. 

Han, Chewie, and Luke are about a two weeks’ hyperspace journey from Coruscant, and none of them want Luke to remain in his filthy condition. A long hot shower later (with real water!), Luke is in a set of Han's clothes, but tight-lipped about his identity.  He has no personal belongings on him, and so it only takes a sweeping glance up his rescuer's body and over his jawline for Luke to offer up sex as payment.  And he can tell that Han looks tempted, so, so tempted, but the older man denies him, saying that he has no desire to make someone feel obligated to sleep with him. 

(Luke pouts.)

Luke is nineteen years old and really wants to be fucked by Han Solo, so he tries to convince the other man that they can have sex and Luke can have passage back to Coruscant for free. And yet he is denied.  There must be another way to convince him, so Luke seeks out to prove that he can earn his keep in other ways.  Han, noble Han, doesn't want to take advantage of Luke sexually, but can hardly complain when the latter tackles the mess that is Han's knocked-out comm. system.  A thoroughly impressed Chewie suggests that Luke uses his mechanical skills on other parts of the ship; Han sulks at the insinuation that their ship needs work and Luke seizes the opportunity to seduce Han.  The comm. system is intricately wired through the entire  _ Millennium Falcon _ , so it’s perfectly reasonable for Luke to stroll around in sleeveless tops and lowly slung too-loose pants of Han’s, undoing sections of wall to peer into its innards for fixing.  And he can’t stop touching Han.  Luke can’t feel anyone else through the Force and makes up for it by leaning up against the older man when they’re sitting alongside one another.  He drapes himself over Han’s back; he hugs him at the slightest provocation; he pretends to be helpless at manning the guns and begs Han for help so that he’s wrapped in Han’s arms as he receives lessons on aiming. It works.  Not two days after being rescued, Luke’s sprawled out on his back with his upper half sweaty and deep inside the warp core of the  _ Falcon _ and Han has had enough.  He hauls Luke out by his ankles so that he can ask him face-to-face.

“Are you sure?” 

And Luke moans out a breathy affirmation, surging up to kiss Han properly, grinning all the while.

Days later, when they land on Coruscant, Luke supposes that he could have spent more time trying to fix the comm. system, but he’s finding it hard to care when he’s spent the past several days being fucked into every surface of the  _ Falcon _ ; even when they talked ships and argued over who was a better pilot, it would usually devolve into Luke riding Han.  With a last kiss pressed against his rescuer’s lips and a wave to Chewbacca, Luke boards a local shuttle back to the Temple.  

Luke is nineteen years old, and when he prostrates himself at Yoda’s gnarled feet, begging for a saber to cut through his collar, he feels the connection of his family slam back into place for the first time in weeks.  Having taken so long to leave the Deep Core, the  _ Darklight _ crew is the first back to the temple and Anakin throws, he throws his arms so tightly around Luke that the young man can barely breathe.  He doesn’t care.  Even Cody’s fussing doesn’t bother him.  And then Luke is the one reassuring a teary Anakin that this won’t happen again but his dad doesn’t believe him and decides that Luke cannot go a moment more without a lightsaber.

In another universe, this lightsaber becomes legendary, but here, it’s simply a weapon passed on from father to son, from one who outgrew it to one who grew into it.

Leia is nineteen years old and she  _ needs _ to find a better way of protecting Luke.  (It seems Anakin agrees as he pushes Luke through brutal saber training until Obi-Wan returns, white-faced in his horror at letting Luke take on the incriminating mission.)  She  _ needs  _ to expand her network outside of her political allies of her father, Senator Mothma, and Senator Chuchi.  If the Force is unavailable, Leia needs to have a reliable set of contacts all about the galaxy.  And if she’s going to protect the ones she loves, she needs her army with her.  Commander Wolffe’s phalanx moves to Coruscant, but they require an easy way of getting about the galaxy.  So, Leia searches for pilots.  She’s decent at the helm of  _ Darklight  _ and  _ Angel _ , and yet there are others out there so much better than her.  Evaan Verlaine is re-assigned from Breha to Leia; a more loyal Alderaanian there never was.  Leia reaches further, to her birth mother’s planet: Alderaan’s ally of Naboo.  The Nubian royal is young and fierce in her leadership.  And Queen Soshu Soruna can  _ fly _ .  She can’t come to Coruscant, but Leia knows she can count on her in a crisis.  Besides, Senator Pooja Naberrie represents the planet in the Senate, as well as a familial link for Leia.  Time passes, and Princess Leia, Senator Organa, General Organa continues to weave a web of royalty and senators and pilots.  She is the daughter of two senators, a queen, and a general--a chancellor, two queens, and a Sith Lord.  Her fathers are a prince and Jedi.  Anakin and Padmé and Breha and Bail have contributed genes and an incredibly diverse upbringing and the  _ Force _ and Leia puts it all to use here.

While Naboo is a traditional and logical ally, not all other planetary and star systems are.  Leia  _ makes _ their representatives see the reason of linking them together.  After Senator Naberrie and Queen Soruna comes Senator Selnia Harbright of Salliche, a woman who reminds Bail of Padmé in her fervor to end tyranny.  It doesn’t hurt that her planet produces mass amounts of food for the Republic, thusly a worthy ally.  Shea Sadashassa’s planet of Herdessa is known for its neutrality and fairness in galactic issues, much like the current chancellor has always been.  Senator Mothma’s planet, Chandrila, as well as Senator Bana Breemu’s Humbarine Sector round out Leia’s allies in the Core Worlds, strategic locations in the galaxy to launch rescue missions, defence tactics, or rapid communication.  And of course, they don’t make up any  _ official _ grouping, as that would cause an unholy amount of suspicion to be cast upon Leia, and yet she makes formal connections, innocent friendships, legislative partners with these senators and their staff.

Ahsoka’s old contact, Mandalorian Bo-Katan Kryze, is Leia’s first less-than-legal contact, and she can fight,  _ oh  _ she can fight just as well as Leia.  (Whenever Senate life becomes too much for Leia, she comms Bo-Katan for a foray into the Undercity’s fighting rings; Leia has a  _ need _ to keep Luke protected under Obi-Wan’s care.)  Bo-Katan’s expertise in evading the officials ( _ not _ that they’re actually committing crimes) introduces Leia to the underbelly of the galaxy.  She’s very, very careful not to have her face showing during these little excursions.  And it’s here, in the Undercity, that she meets just the  _ best  _ people.  Sirona and Oakie are an aunt-niece spice-smuggling duo who can get past any blockade.  Based in Kashyyk, Zabrak Kaysil Verwood and Wookiee Kybacca partner up to help former slaves re-settle into welcoming worlds.

And for now, Leia is satisfied.  She’s satisfied that Luke is safe and remaining a padawan under Obi-Wan’s care.  She’s satisfied that should something happen to him, she has her elite army on hand to back her.  She’s satisfied that she has genuine  _ friends _ outside her family now, as she and Pooja share a smirk across the Rotunda and Oakie takes her out for a night of heavy drinking on her twentieth birthday.

Luke and Leia are twenty years old and creating new relationships for themselves in the  galaxy.  Their old links do not flounder.  There’s no rebel alliance, no empire, and so their loved ones survive.  Bail, Breha, and Obi-Wan remain alive and on friendly terms, lamenting the stress of leadership roles over their tea.  Anakin is back on Byss, methodologically driving out and destroying any and all vestiges of Palpatine.  And somewhere, somewhere in the galaxy, Han Solo cannot stop thinking about Luke, the mysterious kid whose kisses taste like sunshine and engine oil.


	12. Twenty-one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hooooly crap, I probably should stop updating this at 1am. It would probably help me get more hits and such, but that requires the ability to write during the day. Not happening. Besides, there are only two chapters left whaaaat
> 
> ALSO CHECK OUT MY CRACK FIC! It's sorta a cracky Emperor's New Groove/Star Wars crossover, so head over and give it a try!

Leia is twenty-one years old and Ahsoka could not be more proud of her.  Her once-little girl has grown up into a fierce leader, a force around which those who want change rally.  Ahsoka can still remember Leia being small enough for piggy-backs around the clone centre as they took breaks in mapping out areas of known clone hideouts.  And Leia could sometimes be a little shit, but Ahsoka loves her (and Luke) like family, though of course that's what they are.  At twenty-one, Leia is almost as old as Ahsoka was herself when they first met each other.  Now, she's not too too much taller, but oh, Leia casts a shadow much larger than her stature.  And yet, she knows how to hide it when appropriate, such as when she heads into the Undercity.    
  
Likewise, when she requests Ahsoka's backup for a trip to Tatooine, Leia's completely disguised, hair and face almost entirely covered.  If Ahsoka didn't know better, she'd think she were gazing upon a fourteen-year-old Luke who'd snuck off to race. And off they go, with Verlaine piloting a non-descript ship and Leia and Ahsoka making hushed plans in the back. Sirona and Oakie have information for Leia, Ahsoka is told, information too sensitive to discuss digitally.  She hasn't been back to Tatooine since Luke won the Boonta Eve Classic (and she slept with Anakin, she winces), but Leia used to go as a young teen as backup for her dad when he'd play Sith in front of Jabba.  When they eventually arrive at the desert planet, Oakie whisks Leia off to parts unknown and Sirona offers to buy Ahsoka a drink and catch up at Chalmun's. Knowing that Leia and Oakie are dealing with the actual reason for traveling so far, she accepts and they spend several hours at the cantina discussing innocuous topics, such as which planets and systems maintain degrees of loyalty to the Empire.  They play at being hush-hush, but their conversation is typical smuggler-speak. Which planets have increased their defenses? Which cities have raised their tariffs to a point that the only way to acquire their goods is illegally? And all the while, Ahsoka wonders what Leia is up to.    
  
Han Solo is thirty-one years old and incredibly interested in the words being traded across the bar.  He recognizes Oakie, of course, who he respects as the only smuggler better than him, in his eyes. But the short one...when he asked Oakie to assemble a team to infiltrate Jabba’s network, he did not expect her to only find one person.  And what a person.  Her size does not take away from her predatory air, a ferocity that only increases when Han kisses her hand in introduction.  Well then, she's also a snob.  

“Well, it's a pleasure to meet you too, Your Worship.” 

Oakie snorts and greets him with a hug and kiss, as per usual. She knows he's put out by the lady with the pretty eyes not falling for his moves. She tugs the other two into a dark booth at the back of the bar. It's noisy and violent in Tar Mass and so it helps to conceal the three of them, furthering the efforts of their disguises.  What's odd is that Han can tell when the other patrons all suddenly lose interest in the group and turn away.  He has a feeling that the woman introduced as the Little General had something to do with it.  But Oakie trusts her and he trusts Oakie, so he fills them in on what he's found.  Jabba has had ships coming to and from his palace and the Desilijic Complex in town at odd hours and Han has a bad feeling that the Hutt has returned to keeping slaves.  They're all dressed to conceal their identities, and so Jabba’s guards let them into the Complex easily enough. It feels too easy, but the Little General seems to have done something to ease their entry.  In fact, everyone inside the Complex is ignoring them.  It's downright odd, but Han won't look a gift tauntaun in the mouth. They manage to get into the massive underground labyrinth, Han scowling when they eventually reach blaster-proof doors. The Little General looks like she's holding an internal debate, then turns around and walks back the way they came.  She leads them out into the desert, silent the whole way while Han fumes behind her. 

“Look, sister. I don't know who you think you are, but I don't just ignore when slavery is happening right in front of me.”  She whips around to face him.

“Why, you ill-tempered moon jockey! How dare you assume that I'm doing nothing!” 

Han just throws his arms in the air and storms back into Mos Eisley to find Chewie and the  _ Falcon _ . Oakie confirms that Leia does, in fact, have a plan, then wishes her goodbye and runs after Han, linking her arm through his.  It's the first time Han meets Leia, but definitely not the last. 

The next time they meet, she’s incessantly smug about knowing what ended of Jabba’s indiscretions, refusing to tell him.  It’s only when he threatens not to pass on his insider information that she fills him in; she has friends in low places who know how to scare Jabba into doing what they want, such as revealing that the contents of his dungeons hold prisoners, not slaves.  Han makes a show of sulking to hide how impressed he actually is.  Their paths cross several times over the next few months and Han learns to cautiously trust the prickly woman.  He knows she doesn’t like him, and he doesn’t like her, but she seems friendly enough to Oakie and eventually feels comfortable enough to show her face to Han and  _ sweet kriff _ , she’s  _ beautiful _ .  A relationship is the last thing he wants; he has lovers in a few parts of the galaxy, including a Nautolan woman twice his age, a stunning blond mechanic from Coruscant, and a dark-skinned royal who refuses to admit his planet of origin.  

They still fight, but now the tone has changed; it’s as if, by uncovering her face,  _ she’s  _ suddenly noticed how  _ he  _ looks.  Han doesn’t know anything about her or where she’s from, just that the Little General pops up when he has a particularly dangerous run to make.  When he’s not freeing slaves, he creates support lines to rebelling slave forces’ compounds, sending in food, water, supplies, and weapons.  (Of course, they’re all funded by the spice-smuggling operation he also shares with Chewie.)  A month past that, Han finds out that she's named Leia, and he's fascinated.  An unspoken rule of their partnership is that they respect each other’s need for secrets.  And as time goes on, they trust each other more and more.  But Han sometimes just gets so  _ frustrated _ with the stubborn, feisty woman. 

Han is only a few days shy of turning thirty-two when Leia kisses him. They'd been fighting of course, with her railing on him for smuggling and him saying that she had a stick up her ass and oh, he was ranting for longer than he intended.  And he miiight have gotten all up in her face.  Han’s first thought is that she's definitely figured out the best way to shut him up. His second thought is to wonder at why she stopped.  She looks stunned, then lurches back up to pull Han into a frantic kiss, shoving him up against the wall. He wraps his arms all the way her tiny frame and lifts her, lifts her into the table behind her of the spice house he's renting on Corellia.  And her legs are around his waist and her hands are in his hair and Han can barely think; he just wants to pull the clothes off of this maddening woman.  They eventually manage to undress each other, all the while fighting for power and then they give up and sort of just melt into a pile on the floor, a glorious pile of naked limbs and kissing and touching and licking and _more_.

Later, when Han has to clarify that he still hates her, Leia laughs. 

“I know."

But now their relationship has changed and though they still fight, the venom is gone (mostly). It's much more of a non-relationship, since they see each other only every couple of months (Leia’s senatorial duties are extensive), and neither of them make any claims of exclusivity.  Leia has a few one night stands on Coruscant and Han squeezes in sex when he's not flitting around the galaxy.  In the few years since he saved the mysterious Luke with the blinding smile, they've met whenever Han is on the capital planet, finding a dive bar in the Undercity where they can fuck in the back halls with no one watching. No, Han and Leia are not exclusive.  There are others for Han, and Luke.

Luke is twenty-one years old and Obi-Wan could not be more proud of him.  His padawan has grown up to be the quintessential Jedi, taking the lesson of his brief enslavement seriously.  In the ten years since he took on Obi-Wan as his master, Luke’s become even more proficient with a saber than him, even more than Anakin too. Despite this, he's still not managed to grasp the concept that his saber is his life, with which, as Obi-Wan thinks wryly, everyone in Qui-Gon’s line seems to have trouble.  And while Vos doesn't always understand what the ‘right’ thing to do is, his brother-in-learning has a moral compass that will always guide him home.  The rest of the Order, as well as the galaxy, views Obi-Wan as the perfect Jedi, the Negotiator.  

He doesn't agree. 

He's never told anyone, but in the months following Order 66, he came incredibly close to turning to the Dark Side, just to save Anakin.  Not all the way, but Qui-Gon slipped back and forth between Light and Grey and  _ he _ was someone to be admired until his death.  And then there’s Luke.  Luke loves his father just as much as Obi-Wan does, and yet, and yet Luke doesn't even have the ability to Fall.  Oh no. Obi-Wan’s brilliant protegé has already shown (at five years old, no less!!) that his gleaming presence in the Force is untainted in a way that no one else’s is, with the power to stand strong in the face of Darkness. (Leia, on the other hand, would never  _ let _ herself Fall.) Obi-Wan isn't even sure if there is much else that he can teach the boy that time will not naturally.  Diplomacy and leadership will come with years more of practice and time and well, various types of meditation may or may not be improved.  Force knows Anakin only takes it to task when he has to.   _ Luke _ is the one who is the perfect Jedi, who has taken a traditionally anti-Jedi stance on emotion, who doesn't really need Obi-Wan anymore.  Obi-Wan knows that Luke loves him, but their relationship is much more that of partners than of mentor and student.  And Obi-Wan knows deep down that Luke is a Knight. 

Anakin, of course, cries through the entire ceremony; when Luke places his braid in Obi-Wan’s hand, it is clenched with a reverence that signifies how it will be placed with Anakin’s, forever to be kept safe.  It doesn’t really sink in until Luke moves out of the suite he shares with Obi-Wan and Vos, and then the master sulks.  It takes a rather sharp mental reprimand from Luke that he’s forgetting about his other padawan; never let it be said that Obi-Wan will permit his apprentice to feel ignored or unworthy.  Vos begins to excel now that he is no longer in the shadow of Luke Skywalker and now that his master’s attention is no longer divided.  Obi-Wan learns to let go of Luke and  _ trust _ him to make the right decisions.

That being said, Luke is still his father’s son.  With his own private suite comes the greater ease of sneaking out of the temple at night and he simply doesn’t care that Obi-Wan is aware, thanks to their connection.  But then their link peters off for several hours, and Obi-Wan is ever so grateful that Luke hides his sex life from his former master.  In fact, the twins, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka have come to the consensus that they keep their bonds filtered, filtered enough that they all know the rest are alive, and yet they maintain the privacy needed by five adults with active sex lives.  (It comforts Obi-Wan to feel the hum of Luke’s Force presence across the galaxy, especially after the slavery incident.)  Of course, Obi-Wan and Anakin’s bond is always wide open.  And truly, if Obi-Wan really misses his former padawan, he can assign the two of them a mission together as it used to be.

Luke is no longer a child and sometimes, Cody wishes that it were not so.  He misses the tousled blond head that would tuck under his chin as Luke napped.  He misses walking in to see Anakin tickling his madly giggling son.  He misses the way he and Anakin would take Luke to lake planets and they would all learn to swim together.  And Cody knows that he’s a little bit selfish for wanting this; Luke has grown up and has his own life now.  And Luke, Luke has changed the fate of the entire galaxy; this Cody knows.  He remembers taking Luke into space for the first time, but he also remembers trying to kill Obi-Wan.  He remembers Darth Vader not speaking for days on end.  He remembers the emperor ordering Vader to hunt down any ‘defective’ clones; Cody was, in a sense, lucky that his biomechanical chip did not degrade and was not removed until Kamino.  When a young Luke was sleeping, Cody used to sit by him and stroke his hair, praying to the Force that it was not all a dream, gazing in awe at the five year old who had the power to change Darth Vader.  And now…

Leia and Luke are twenty-one years old.  Their family stretches from Tatooine to Naboo to Alderaan to Coruscant (and back again) via the  _ Darklight _ .  They’ve forged relationships of siblinghood, lovers, master and apprentice, foster father and son, mother and daughter, and the list keeps growing.  They’ve forged their places in the galaxy, never to be forgotten.  They are Skywalkers, and their saga continues.  


	13. Epilogue: Twenty-Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo I haven't abandoned it, but I felt that the last chapter was a nice one to close on. BUUUUT there were still three scenes that I wanted to include, so you'll all get three mini-epilogues to enjoy.
> 
> FURTHERMORE: I commissioned chapter art by the amazing untaintedtea (tumblr, instagram, twitter), so PLEASE take a look at her work! I absolutely love what she did with my babies. There are seven pieces of art in the fic altogether, so scroll back up to look at them! 
> 
> And thank you to everyone for over 550 kudos and 160 bookmarks!!

_ The saga continues… _

Luke is twenty-four years old and needs a drink. He and Leia, as representatives of the Jedi and Senate respectively, have just finished legislating a peace treaty between the upper and lower levels of Taris, who have been fighting  _ again _ over control of their planet.  It's been weeks of negotiating the millennia-long feud and they can finally find a neutral bar where they can unwind with the locals, most of whom have seemed unconcerned with the political proceedings of the classes above and below them. He's been the public face of the Jedi’s missions for some time now, as Obi-Wan has focused more on liasoning with the Senate and other galactic institutions. But he is still young, young enough to get blackout drunk without hope of Force-siphoning the alcohol out of his system. 

Leia is twenty-four years old and enjoying the peaceful swoops of  _ Angel _ as she manoeuvers her way through the Outer Rim. While her brother sleeps in his bunk, she takes advantage of a rare few hours of peace.  It lasts barely an hour before her comm is singing shrilly, with a pleading message from Han asking for a ride to Corellia. It's  _ all _ Chewie’s fault and now the Wookiee has run off with the  _ Falcon _ in an effort to protect the helpless ship; Han can take care of himself.  Barely humming and hawing, Leia acquiesces, noting that it's probably time that her twin and her lover meet one another. 

Later, as she's nibbling along the shadow of Han’s jawline, she admits that there may have been some selfish motivations mixed in there. 

Luke is twenty-four years old and feeling delightfully languid.  His hair is a golden mass about his shoulders and, despite his long nap, his eyes are still grainy with sleep.  And then he walks into  _ Angel _ ’s galley to see his twin and his boyfriend with their hands up each other’s shirts.  Luke chokes on his own spit, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. He can see Leia’s sheepish smile and she sends him a mental apology for making out where they eat, but Han, Han looks so confused. The smuggler’s head just swivels back and forth between Luke and Leia, trying to piece it together.  When she apologizes for not telling Han that her brother was on board, he gapes. 

“Your  _ brother _ ?”

“We’re twins, actually, apparently with exactly the same taste in men.” Luke, who's shaken off the shock, strolls over to Leia and drapes his arm over her shoulder. Han jumps back as though electrocuted. As the twins silently communicate, their boyfriend remains frozen. Because really, that's what he is to each of them, a fact that they establish over a hot meal. They each take only Han to bed and he is faithful to the two of them. 

Ground rules must be set, though, especially since Luke and Leia do not want to enjoy Han at the same time, not immediately one after another.  Jokes about wet wipes appear to put Han’s mind at ease and soon his look of stunned amazement is replaced by a less confused version of it.   _ Angel _ still has several hours to Corellia, so they all share a bottle of berry-flavoured hypervodka and giggle at how the senate and Jedi would be scandalized by their arrangement.  Han is finally, finally brought into the fold of knowing Luke’s last name and what Leia’s job actually is. (Of course, he could have easily known, but generally prefers to remove himself from the politics of those in their snooty ivory towers.) Vader is not mentioned. 

For now, the twins meet up with their lover separately for trysts and together to just hang out and roam the universe. As time goes on, Leia and Luke will go on to meet Lando, Chewie and Threepeeoh bickering in the background.  Their lives become intertwined with Han’s and all is well. 

Yes, Luke and Leia are twenty-four years old and all is indeed well. 


	14. Epilogue: Twenty-Eight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The past week has been pretty fucking rough, so I wanted to get this out. I had just begun to edit this when I caught the news about Debbie. So, for the poor family of these two marvelous women, I give you another epilogue.

_ The saga continues… _

Leia is twenty-eight years old and Han is Late.  Yes, Late, by well over an hour.  When she and Luke invited him to be their date at Ahsoka and Riyu’s wedding, they thought that it would be the perfect chance to introduce him to their motley family.  But now, the rites are over and the brides are giddily dragging their loved ones out of the ceremonial hall and into Riyu’s private senatorial quarters, where she’s set up her dining room to celebrate the wedding with their thirty or so guests.  But Han isn’t there and there’s no comm. from him with any explanation.  It’s even the first time in weeks that she’s worn a dress, a great swooping thing smattered with a galactic print.  Brow furrowed in concern, Luke stands beside her in all black, looking sharp and like a true son of Anakin.  And still Han isn’t there to see it.  Assuming that their lover got cold feet, the twins share a sigh and split, Luke to his former master and Leia to chat with Riyu and her father about managing bureaucratic and romantic duties at the same time.  Neither of them notice a sheepish-looking Han slide in at the back, going straight to the mini-bar at the back.

Han is thirty-eight years old and feels utterly out of his element.  While he can normally schmooze his way through most crowds, everyone here is  _ rich _ and, from the snippets of conversation he can hear, eloquent enough that he’d stick out like a sore thumb.  Luke and Leia look gorgeous (and deep in conversation), but he’s just...scruffy, despite his best efforts to clean up; he’s even replaced his usual vest with a classy leather jacket.  Serving himself a generous helping of his favourite Corellian whiskey, Han rocks back on his heels, leans back against the bar, and rests on his elbows.  Taking a couple of sips helps calm his nerves.  He actually had wanted to make a good impression, but it had taken longer than expected for him and Chewie to find a place to hide the  _ Millennium Falcon  _ on Coruscant; the Wookiee eventually decided to drop Han off and keep circling for a docking pad.

It's only a few moments before his internal contemplation is broken. 

“Well, look what the Wookiee dragged in.”

“You know, General, I never thought I'd see you out in public without your face covered.” For it is, in the last place Han would expect, the General cum Commodore, looking older but no less delicious.  The two men warily stare at each other before Anakin shakes his head and laughs, drawing the tense younger man into a hug. 

“I go by Anakin now, to most people.” 

“And am I ‘most people’?” If it were with Leia or Luke, Han would call this flirting. But there's no sexual energy here anymore, none since Han upped and left. The Gener- _ Anakin _ doesn't seem too concerned, so Han doesn't mention it. And despite the platonic nature of their conversation, old habits die hard; their shoulders are pressed against each other’s and their heads dip in close as they fill each other in on what they've been up to for the past, grey and brown strands intermingling. Han only finds out that Anakin hasn't been single since only a few months after they parted before the two of them excitedly get into the specifics of  _ Falcon _ and  _ Darklight  _ upgrades.

Luke is twenty-eight years old and rather surprised to see his boyfriend and father in conversation.  It's a good sign of their relationship that Han seeked out Anakin to introduce himself.  Meandering over, drink in hand, Luke places his other hand at the base of Han’s back in hello, who whirls around and swoops Luke into a, well, a rather deep kiss. It is enthusiastically returned until Luke realizes that his father is there and delicately extricates himself from Han’s arms.  Anakin does not look pleased. 

“Sorry, Dad; I would have introduced you first but you've already met Han, it seems.”

Han is faint with shock.  _ Ohhhh fuck.  _ And he knows that Luke must have Force-called Leia over because she's striding in their direction, relief evident in her eyes.  

“Han! You're alright!” Leia tries to pull him down into sweet kiss, confused when he resists.  Anakin looks even less pleased, using his height to crowd into Han’s space. He knows Han and knows what the man does to his lovers. Of course, he righteously informs his children, who immediately latch on to the fact that their father and boyfriend used to hook up.  _ They _ find it much more hilarious than Anakin or Han do, the latter of which looks like he wants to crawl into a Sarlacc pit and die.  

Then Luke says that he and Han have been together since the man rescued him (fudging the extent of their relationship a tad, just for Dad’s sake) and Anakin changes his mind on the spot. Neither twin pushes the issue, and Han even relaxes enough to chuckle when Chewie finally shows up, eager for an explanation. 

The  _ Darklight _ crew finds this brilliant, of course, Ahsoka even going far enough to say that this is the best thing to happen today (until Riyu sweeps her away to the dance floor).  

And Anakin? Anakin is fifty years old and has a plan for Han and himself, a plan that Han was originally resistant to.  But now that they’re family, the captain can hardly say no, and so the plan comes to pass.

Co-captains Organa and Skywalker of  _ Angel  _ are honourary members of the Skywalker trading fleet; that doesn’t stop Commodore Skywalker from grinning with pride at his three-ship operation.  Officially, they trade rare goods across the galaxy.  Unofficially, they use their eyes and ears and the Force to the ebbs and flows of the beings and systems of the galactic republic.  

Grand Master Kenobi and again-Chancellor Organa have no desire to be kept out of the loop of a potential Sith resurgence.


End file.
